George B. Autry, Jr. has been a trial lawyer since 1991 and has practiced exclusively eminent domain since 1993. Before joining Cranfill, Sumner & Hartzog, LLP as a partner in 2001, George was a partner in Autry & Crabill, a Raleigh eminent domain law firm. Prior to representing exclusively property owners in eminent domain matters, George handled condemnation cases as an Associate Attorney General for the State of North Carolina. George’s career has included over fifty cases where the property owner has received in excess of one million dollars.
Since leaving the Attorney General’s office in 1999, George has limited his practice to representing property owners facing eminent domain. He has tried over a dozen multi-million dollar land condemnation cases to favorable jury verdicts, resulting in awards greatly in excess of the condemnor’s estimated just compensation. George, along with his wife and law partner, Stephanie Autry, has won the two largest land condemnation judgments in NCDOT history. George’s career includes trial and settlements of virtually every type of eminent domain case, including combinations of shopping centers, golf courses, gas stations, hotels, mining and manufacturing facilities, office and residential condominiums, livestock farms, schools, churches, and automobile dealerships. George regularly represents clients against the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the City of Charlotte, the Triangle Transit Authority, and Duke Energy Progress.
For the past ten years, George has represented North Carolina in the Owners’ Counsel of America, a group of attorneys (one from each state) recognized nationally or leaders in the practice of eminent domain. He was recently elected to the Board of Directors of Owners’ Counsel of America. George was also appointed Chairman of the Land Condemnation Specialty Committee by the North Carolina State Bar.
Representative clients include Target, Inc., Developers Diversified Realty, Chick Fil A, Public Storage, Pro-Build, Inc., Boggs Construction Company, and many other individuals and businesses.