At Conrad Trosch & Kemmy, we believe in providing legal expertise with a common sense approach. Our priority is service - to our clients, to the judicial system, and to our community. Our approach is simple: Treat others as you would want to be treated, and respond to our clients' needs and goals with options tailored just for them, then guide them as they make crucial choices.
Louis A. "Lou" Trosch, Sr , and Robert G. Williams opened for business as Trosch & Williams Law Firm in Charlotte in 1970, concentrating on real estate, general corporate law, wills and estates and management-labor arbitration. The firm had one small attorney's office and a secretarial station with no reception area. If a partner had a conference with a client, the other partner went to a restaurant next door until the conference was completed. The partners' spouses performed all the secretarial duties.
Four years later, Lou Trosch's father-in-law, Theodore Charles (T. C.) Conrad, sold his partnership interest in the accounting firm Conrad, Hoey, East & Co. and, at age 71, joined Trosch & Williams as a partner. As Charlotte grew, the firm's real estate practice blossomed. Because of Mr. Conrad's experience and expertise, the firm's will, estate planning, and probate practice also flourished.
To accommodate an increasing number of clients, Fred DeVore was invited to join the firm. Together, Mr. DeVore and Mr. Trosch established a computerized will program, and the firm became the participating attorney for Personal Legal Plans, a major prepaid legal plan which still provides some of the firm's clientele. The firm continues to co-counsel litigation cases with Mr. DeVore, who left Conrad, Trosch & Williams to form his own firm.
Mr. Williams left the firm in 1986 to specialize in arbitration, and Michael J. Kemmy joined the firm a year later. He became a partner in 1992. Mr. Conrad, who worked every day until his death in December 1995, continued to handle tax matters and estate tax planning. Mr. Kemmy took charge of the Personal Legal Plans division. He also implemented the Professional Advisory Service. And, together, Mr. Kemmy and Mr. Trosch handled probate and estate practice, real estate closings and corporate practice.
Don Carroll joined the firm as "of counsel" attorney, steering the firm into a litigation practice before leaving to become State Director of the State Bar Association's PALS Division.
Former Charlotte City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem Minette Trosch joined her husband in the firm after she completed law school in 1992. She organized the firm's new second mortgage and non-conforming loan division, then developed a domestic relations and public interest law practice - the forerunner of today's Family Law practice. Today, she and two of the Troschs' three sons also are partners in the firm.
Since our beginning, with two attorneys and a manual typewriter, Conrad Trosch & Kemmy has grown to eight attorneys and 11 staff. Over the past 40 years, the firm has handled more than 10,000 legal matters and has drafted more than 80,000 wills - possibly more than any law firm in North Carolina. We settled a $10 million lawsuit. But, with our growth, Conrad Trosch & Kemmy continues to operate in an informal and friendly atmosphere where service to our clients is our guiding principle.
Our attorneys and staff at Conrad Trosch & Kemmy believe it is important to give back to the community of which we have been a part for more than 40 years. We readily and regularly contribute our expertise, time and financial support to the Charlotte community. Whether providing pro bono legal assistance, fund-raising, mentoring or political activism, we believe we can make a real difference in the quality of life where we live and work. And we gain a sense of fulfillment by being a part of our community and responding to its needs. Among the numerous charitable and community organizations in which our attorneys and staff have participated or currently participate are:
Bruce Irons Camp Fund
Habitat for Humanity
Carriage Club of Charlotte
Mecklenburg County Teen Court
Charlotte School of Law
Rain
Citizen Schools at Martin Luther King Jr. High
Siegle Avenue Freedom School
Domestic Violence Advocacy
Social Ventures Partners Charlotte
EMAC - Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools
St. John's Baptist Church High School
Freedom School Partners
United Family Services Men for a Change
Good Fellows Club
The Shepherd's Center of Charlotte
