BURLINGTON – Wade Harrison and Tom Steele of Wishart Norris Henninger & Pittman in Burlington recently were named to a “Super Lawyer” listing for excellence in their fields of practice.

In addition, Harrison made a list of “Best Lawyers” in America.

Best Lawyers announced its selections for all 50 states in conjunction with US News Media Group, the nation’s leading source of rankings and service journalism. Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected legal peer-review publication. Harrison is the only Burlington lawyer in the 2010 listing based on nearly 3 million detailed evaluations of attorneys by their peers. Harrison also was selected in 2006.

Super Lawyers 2010 selects outstanding attorneys in more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The listings are published in a special supplement to leading newspapers and magazines. Harrison, who practices family law, has been selected each year since 2006.

Harrison practices in all areas of family law, including equitable distribution, child custody, support and alimony. He also works in business litigation. He is a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers as well as a certified Family Financial Mediator.

Harrison earned his law degree from the University of North Carolina in 1979, after obtaining his bachelor’s at UNC in Political Science in 1976. He has served in various positions as a counsel in the US House of Representatives. He is an equity member of Wishart Norris Henninger & Pittman.

He has served many civic organizations in Burlington and Alamance County, and has chaired the Alamance County Strategic Planning Task Force, the Alamance County United Way and the March of Dimes Steering Committee for Alamance County. He is a past recipient of the Alamance Bar Association Community Service Award and a previous recipient of the North Carolina Bar Association Citizen Lawyer award.

Steele focuses on resolution of title issues; development consulting; representation of commercial real estate developers, investors, lenders and users as well as representation of residential buyers, sellers and lenders; foreclosures; partition matters; land-use matters; estate planning and estate administration.

In 2009, Steele was elected to a three-year term on the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association. He also serves on the association’s Strategic Planning & Emerging Trends and Charter & Bylaws committees. Also in 2009, he was the co-recipient of the Real Property Section’s Distinguished Service Award. Steele is also a past Legislative Committee chair, and a past treasurer, vice chair and chair of the Real Property Section of the North Carolina Bar Association.

He was listed among the Legal Elite in Business North Carolina in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

He received his bachelor’s in Accounting with distinction from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1984. He is also a certified public accountant and holds the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation. He earned his law degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987.

Steele is active in a wide range of civic organizations, including the Realtors Commercial Alliance of Alamance County; the Boy Scouts of America, Alamance District; the Alamance-Caswell Home Builders Association; the Alamance Battleground Chapter of the Sons of the Revolution and the Alamance Battleground Friends, Inc. He is chair of the Hospice of Alamance-Caswell Foundation, Inc. and formerly served on the board of Hospice & Palliative Care Center of Alamance-Caswell, LLC.

Steele is an equity member of Wishart Norris Henninger & Pittman and is a director of its board.

With offices in Charlotte as well as Burlington, Wishart Norris Henninger & Pittman concentrates on serving the needs of closely held businesses and their owners as well as individuals in the areas of business, exit planning, litigation, taxation, estate planning, commercial and residential real estate, land use and family law.