Client-Centric
Deal-Driven
Built For Business
Large Firm Expertise
Small Firm Agility
Where Business & Law Come Together
We have a passion for working side-by-side with businesspeople like you.
Practice Areas
McDermott Law’s deep and diverse experience enables us to provide practical, client-specific, solutions that are efficient and effective. Whether rendering advice on the formation of an entity, growth, spin-offs, crisis situations, the acquisition or sale of assets, exit strategies, or engaging and overseeing other professional advisors, McDermott Law strives to provide wise counsel throughout the life cycle of your business.
With a high level of integration and involvement with our clients, you may find McDermott Law at a client’s headquarters discussing long-term vision and growth; in a client’s board meeting advising regarding proper and effective board governance; coordinating and attending a client’s sales meeting with a REIT; on-site, managing a voluminous, bet-the-company closing; or stopping by a client’s home with urgent documents
At McDermott Law, your business is our business. We understand bottom lines, margins, costs, risks and rewards. Every transaction is approached with genuine care and concern for your business, preferences, and goals. Are you ready for a law firm that is a partner in your success?
Due diligence, title remediation, investment, acquisition, development, leasing, and sales. Projects include:
- Healthcare real estate
- Mixed-use developments
- Residential developments
- Religious and community centers
- Shopping centers, malls, and other retail
- Entertainment venues (e.g., movie theaters, live entertainment)
- Various forms of real estate financing
- Education real estate
- Industrial parks
- Condominiums
Representing investors, owners, businesses and non-profits in such matters as:
- Joint ventures
- Asset transactions
- Corporate spin-offs
- Corporate succession
- Corporate governance
- Entity selection and formation
- Purchases and sales of businesses
- Ownership interest acquisitions and dispossessions
- Various forms of non-real estate asset-based financing
- Board governance
- Board succession
Represent financial institutions, corporate clients, private purchasers, borrowers, guarantors, and investors in various types of secured, unsecured, senior and subordinated debt transactions, such as:
- Real estate and non-real estate asset secured loans
- Line of credit
- Private equity
- Loan workouts
- Equipment financing
- Special purpose loans
- Financial restructuring
- Letter of credit facilities
- Loan purchases and sales
- Senior and subordinated credit
- SBA financing
Working side-by-side with clients on such matters as:
- Strategic planning
- Crisis management
- Structural efficiency
- Candidate evaluation
- Investigation coordination and oversight
Meet our Attorneys
Gary T. McDermott

Jon Cook

Gary is a business attorney with a broad-based practice, including helping developers and property owners complete commercial real estate deals, assisting financial institutions in resolving lending disputes, aiding clients in corporate matters and asset transactions, and serving as a trusted legal advisor and outside general counsel.
Gary’s real estate practice involves a broad spectrum of developments, including healthcare real estate, mixed-use developments, shopping centers, residential subdivisions, industrial parks, and condominiums. He represents developers and property owners in developing, negotiating, financing, documenting, and closing such complex commercial real estate transactions. Gary’s deep real estate experience includes a vast array of lease arrangements, including office, restaurant, retail, industrial, entertainment production (film and television), medical, and ground leases.
He represents borrowers, guarantors, investors, purchasers of debt, and financial institutions in such matters as managing distressed debt, loan workouts, loan restructuring, and debt purchases and sales. He also works with such parties in various financing matters, including development loans, leasehold secured financing, and SBA loans.
Gary guides clients in various corporate matters such as asset purchase agreements and transactions, entity selection and formation, and entity interest transfers. He assists non-profit groups with such matters as formation, governance documents, coordinating and overseeing investigation and litigation matters, advising regarding board of directors and governance issues, and 501(c)(3) matters.
Gary serves as outside general counsel to multiple clients. In doing so, Gary not only aids them with the applicable above-described matters; he also helps them with identifying and reducing potential liability, corporate succession, crisis management, coordinating and overseeing other professional service providers and advisors, corporate structure, and strategic vision and implementation.
Prior Legal Experience
- Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, LLP, Partner (previously Senior Associate, previously Associate)
- Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, LLP, Associate
- Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, LLP, Summer Associate
- Cowsert & Avery, LLP, Summer Associate
Select Honors and Awards
- Super Lawyer
- North Carolina Legal Elite
- The Best Lawyers in America
- Business Leader Pro Bono Impact Award
- Mecklenburg County Bar Pro Bono Attorney of the Year
- The North Carolina Chiropractic Association’s Chiropractic Honor Roll Award
Select Speaking Engagements
- FundingPost’s Venture Capital Panel, panelist
- North Carolina Bar Association Hot Topics in Real Estate CLE, planner and moderator
- Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, LLP, Healthcare Real Estate Industry Panel, panelist
Civic Activities
In addition to his dedication to his significant pro bono work, Gary has served the local community in various capacities, such as:- Pregnancy Resource Center of Charlotte’s Board of Directors, Board Member and Committee Chair
- Mecklenburg County’s Professionalism, Lawyer Life and Culture Committee, volunteer
- Christian Legal Society, volunteer
- North Carolina Republican Party, State Executive Committee Member (9th District)
- North Carolina Bar Association, Mentor
Education
J.D., 2005 | University of Georgia Select Honors and Awards:- Magna cum laude
- Order of the Coif
Memberships
Mecklenburg County Bar North Carolina Bar Association National Association of Chiropractic AttorneysBar Admissions
- North Carolina, 2005
- Admitted to practice before all North Carolina State Courts and the United States District Court of the Western District of North Carolina
Jon Cook
Memberships
- Georgia Bar Association
- Tennessee Bar Association
Prior Legal Experience
- Scenic City Legal Group, PC, Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, LLP, Atlanta, Georgia
- Minor, Bell & Neal, Dalton, Georgia
Education
J.D., 2005 | University of Georgia Select Honors and Awards:- Cum Laude
Select Activities:
- Research Assistance to Associate Dean Paul Kurtz
- Student Bar Association Mentor
- Notes Editor, Journal of Intellectual Property Law
- Chairman, Sports and Entertainment Law Club
B.S., 2002 | Berry College
Select Honors and Awards:
- Magna Cum Laude
- Martha Berry Writing Winner
- Dean’s List Eight of Eight Semesters
- Governor’s Scholarship Award Winner
Select Activities:
- Berry Information Technology Student
- Peer Educator
- Business School Tutor
- Local Outreach Mentor
- Habitat for Humanity Volunteer
Bar Admissions
- Georgia, 2005
- Admitted to practice in all State Courts including Appellate and Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- Tennessee, 2013
- Admitted to practice in all State Courts, including Appellate and Supreme Court
Gary is an excellent real estate lawyer who gets results by being practical and goal oriented. He knows how to get a deal done promptly and on time.
Joe Cogdell VP, General Counsel & Secretary (retired)