Dozier Miller Law Group

Focus and practice areas

Dozier Miller Law Group covers a wide span of civil and criminal work from its Charlotte base. Family law, personal injury, business law, civil litigation, immigration, estate planning and criminal defense all appear as named areas. The firm also handles appeals, mediation and arbitration, and church and nonprofit matters.

Within family law, the firm lists divorce, separation agreements, equitable distribution, alimony, and child custody and support. Those five categories track the main decision points in a North Carolina separation. Equitable distribution and alimony are separate claims with separate standards, and they often move on different timelines from custody.

The business side covers formation, contracts, mergers and acquisitions, and business litigation. A firm that does both the transactional and the courtroom end of business work can carry a client through a deal and through the dispute that sometimes follows it. In my opinion that pairing matters more than the length of a practice area list.

Where the litigation label lands

Civil litigation is the area we matched to our own taxonomy for this firm. It sits alongside the appeals practice, which is a distinct skill: appellate work runs on a written record, briefs and oral argument before a panel, with no new evidence. The mediation and arbitration listing points to work that resolves outside a courtroom, usually with a neutral third party the sides agree on.

How the team is built

Twelve attorneys are named on the firm's site. They are Robert P. Hanner II, Timothy Graham, David McCleary, Allison Holstein, George Miller, Craig Miller Jr., Kenya Glover, Art Blanton, Ben Halstead, Thomas Falish, Richard Stephens and Amanda Cannavo. That headcount is consistent with the number of practice areas the firm advertises.

Robert P. Hanner II is the attorney the site details. He practices family law and has represented clients in those matters for more than 40 years. He holds a J.D. from Wake Forest School of Law.

Hanner has been certified in family law by the North Carolina State Bar since 1989. Board certification in North Carolina requires a written examination, peer review, and a demonstrated concentration of practice in the field, and it has to be renewed. A 1989 certification date puts him among the earlier cohorts to hold it.

Admissions and reach

Hanner is admitted in North Carolina and the 26th Judicial District, which is Mecklenburg County. He is also admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Western and Middle Districts of North Carolina, and to the U.S. Court of Military Appeals. That last admission is unusual on a family law biography. Military divorce brings in questions civilian cases do not raise: pension division under federal rules, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and custody arrangements built around deployment.

Charlotte roots and a second location

The firm has provided legal counsel in Charlotte since 1979. Nearly five decades in one market gives a firm working familiarity with the local bench, opposing counsel and county procedure, which is a practical advantage in family and criminal matters where local practice varies.

Its main office is on North Tryon Street in uptown Charlotte, close to the Mecklenburg County courthouse. In 2026 the firm opened a Lake Norman location in Huntersville, listed as a physical address only.

The Huntersville site covers northern Mecklenburg and southern Iredell counties, including Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and Mooresville. Those communities sit twenty to thirty minutes north of uptown. Iredell County matters go before a different judicial district than Mecklenburg ones, so a firm handling both areas works across two court systems.

What the record shows

The firm describes itself as full-service, and the practice list supports that. Family law, criminal defense, immigration and estate planning reach individuals and families. Business formation, M&A and commercial litigation reach companies. Personal injury bridges the two.

As a reviewer, the strongest verifiable point here is the family law certification. Board certification is issued by the state bar and can be checked independently, which puts it in a different category from self-described experience. Around 3 percent of North Carolina lawyers hold certification in any specialty.

Reading the practice areas as process

Some of the listed areas follow predictable paths. An equitable distribution claim in North Carolina begins with an inventory of marital and separate property, moves through discovery and often an appraisal, and reaches either a settlement agreement or a hearing before a district court judge. Alimony turns on findings about marital misconduct, income and need, and it can be tried with the property claim or after it.

Immigration matters run on federal timelines through USCIS or the immigration courts, with waiting periods measured in months or years. Estate planning is document work: wills, powers of attorney, health care directives, and sometimes trusts, followed by probate administration in the clerk of court's office. Criminal defense in Mecklenburg County starts in district court, with felonies moving up to superior court on indictment or waiver.

These are general descriptions of how such matters proceed, offered as context for the areas the firm names. The site does not publish case results or settlement figures, so the record available here is the practice list, the attorney roster, and Hanner's credentials.

Points a prospective client can verify

Three facts on this listing are checkable outside the firm's own pages. Hanner's family law certification is on the North Carolina State Bar's specialization registry. His federal court admissions are matters of record with the respective clerks. The 1979 start date is stated on the firm's about page and repeated in its structured site data.

The firm maintains accounts on Facebook, X and Instagram. Anyone comparing options in Charlotte family law will find the certification the most useful single filter, since it narrows the field quickly and is issued by the bar rather than by a publication.

Dozier Miller Law Group has practiced in Charlotte since 1979, names twelve attorneys, and added its Huntersville address in 2026.

Family law team depth

The fuller attorney record shows several family law lawyers with distinct experience. Timothy H. Graham is a partner whose domestic practice includes equitable distribution, child custody, child support and alimony. Most of his work involves litigation, although he also works toward resolutions without court proceedings. His record therefore gives prospective clients a clearer view of how the firm approaches both contested cases and negotiated outcomes.

Allison Holstein is board certified in family law through the North Carolina State Board of Legal Specialization. She chairs the Family Law Section of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association and belongs to the Charlotte Chapter of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys. David McCleary is co-chair of the county bar's Family Law Section. His work includes divorce and separation, as well as domestic violence matters.

Amanda Brisson Cannavo is a partner whose practice reaches premarital agreements and alienation of affection claims in addition to domestic disputes. Stephanie Ross handles adoption and probate alongside her family law work. That combination may be relevant when a family matter also raises estate administration or adoption questions.

Civil litigation and appellate experience

Art Blanton handles business and construction litigation, together with personal injury and other civil disputes. Adam Hocutt's civil practice includes medical malpractice and products liability. He also handles real estate litigation and appellate matters. Before private practice, Hocutt clerked for the Supreme Court of North Carolina and was editor-in-chief of the Wake Forest Law Review. Those roles add direct experience with judicial decision-making and legal writing to the litigation group.

The record also identifies subject-specific assignments within other departments. George N. Miller handles immigration and naturalization matters, along with criminal defense in state and federal courts. He has taught as an adjunct professor at Charlotte School of Law and holds North Carolina board certification in immigration and nationality law.

Business and estate assignments

R. Craig Miller Jr. works on corporate matters, including business sales and acquisitions. His practice also covers wills and estate administration. Thomas J. Falish has a similar division of work between corporate transactions and estate matters. Their profiles indicate that these services have named attorneys behind them, rather than appearing only in the firm's general practice list.

Todd Owens adds a different form of courtroom experience. He was a District Court Judge in the 26th Judicial District from 2004 through 2008. His current work includes mediation and arbitration, as well as family law and criminal defense. That judicial background is directly relevant to the firm's alternative dispute resolution work and its Mecklenburg County caseload.