Tom
Cannon is
licensed to practice law in North Carolina. He is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, where he graduated from Needham Broughton High
School. Thereafter, he attended the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill as a John Motley Morehead Scholar where
he earned his AB in 1962, and his law degree in 1965. Prior to entering private
practice he was employed by the
court system in Mecklenburg County. Since 1968 he has had an extensive civil trial practice concentrating on family
law. He had a significant misdemeanor criminal practice for a number of years. Before joining Horack, Talley, Pharr
& Lowndes as a shareholder, he was a partner at Helms, Cannon, Henderson & Porter for 15 years.
Mr.
Cannon’s practice is now limited to family law and related matters. He is certified as a Family Law Specialist by
the North Carolina State Bar and served on the State Bar’s Family Law Certification Committee from 1988-94. He
chaired the North Carolina Bar Association’s Family Law Section in 1982-83
and was a member of the Mecklenburg
County Bar Association’s Executive Committee from 1982-84. He is among the lawyers listed in “The Best Lawyers
In America” in the specialty of family law. He served in the United States Naval Reserve for 20 years, the first
six as an intelligence officer, and thereafter in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Mr. Cannon is certified as
an arbitrator by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
For
more than 25 years Mr. Cannon has lectured at continuing legal education seminars sponsored by various providers,
including the North Carolina Bar Association, the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the Mecklenburg
County Bar Association. He has been a speaker at the North Carolina Bar Association’s Practical Skills Course for
new lawyers each year since 1977, and at its Basics of Family Law Course since 1984.
Mr.
Cannon’s practice extends beyond Mecklenburg County, particularly to the contiguous counties of Union, Cabarrus,
Lincoln, Gaston, and Iredell. He has tried cases in more than 30 counties throughout North Carolina. He has appeared
before the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the North Carolina Supreme Court in more than
35 cases.
