Landon Van Winkle

Landon credits his time serving as a mortarman in the United States Marine Corps for instilling in him the values of honor, leadership, perseverance, flexibility, precision, and attention to detail. Landon’s military background provides the perfect foundation for his work at Smith Debnam, representing some of the nation’s leading institutions in the consumer financial services industry in compliance, civil litigation, and bankruptcy matters.

Committed to getting it right, Landon makes it his mission to understand the client’s primary and secondary goals. As Landon would say, knowing the details is ‘mission-critical’ because the difference between what is material and what is irrelevant in a legal matter frequently turns on subtle details. With calm precision, he can quickly zero in on the friction points in an adversarial legal matter, saving his clients valuable time and expense. Similarly, Landon’s attention to detail proves invaluable in assisting clients in prospectively minimizing litigation and administrative enforcement exposure through sound compliance and risk management advice.

A member of the construction law, business litigation, and bankruptcy teams, Landon received his J.D. summa cum laude from Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Finance, with distinction, from the University of Hawai’i at West O’ahu. Following law school, Landon clerked for the Honorable Joseph N. Callaway, Bankruptcy Judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Before joining Smith Debnam, Landon represented both corporate and individual debtors in chapter 7, 11, 12, and 13 bankruptcy cases and numerous individuals in consumer protection litigation—experiences he credits with his ability to see all sides of a legal issue and to maximize the strength of his client’s position.