Holmes Harden focuses on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights matters. Holmes has extensive experience in the representation of financial institutions, including all aspects of creditor representation in connection with commercial loans, workouts and contested bankruptcy matters, having been he has been board certified in bankruptcy law since 1987. He has represented banks (both in-state and out-of-state) and Fortune 500 companies in bankruptcy courts across North Carolina. He also represents large institutional lenders in complex real estate matters, asset-based financing matters and creditors’ rights litigation.

Holmes Harden focuses on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights matters. Holmes has extensive experience in the representation of financial institutions, including all aspects of creditor representation in connection with commercial loans, workouts and contested bankruptcy matters. He has represented banks (both in-state and out-of-state) and Fortune 500 companies in bankruptcy courts across North Carolina. He also represents large institutional lenders in complex real estate matters, asset-based financing matters and creditors’ rights litigation. Prior to joining the firm, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Naomi E. Morris, Chief Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Holmes was among the first attorneys certified as a specialist in business and consumer bankruptcy law by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. He also has a certification in business bankruptcy law from the American Bankruptcy Board of Specialization.

Holmes has been named to Business North Carolina magazine’s “Legal Elite” and in 2009 joined the ranks of the publication's "Legal Elite Hall of Fame" as the top vote-getter in the Bankruptcy Law category. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America© (2008-present), and appeared in The Best Lawyers Consumer Guide, published by the editors of The Best Lawyers in America©. In the 2016 and 2019 editions, Best Lawyers® named him the "Lawyer of the Year" for Litigation-Banking and Finance Law in Raleigh. He was listed among the Top 100 North Carolina "Super Lawyers" in 2011 and 2012 by North Carolina Super Lawyers magazine and is continually in the annual magazine (2006-present). Martindale-Hubbell has rated Holmes an AV attorney, its highest rating available. In addition, Holmes is a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. In 2014, he was selected as one of the top 10 bankruptcy attorneys in North Carolina by the National Academy for Bankruptcy Attorneys.

Holmes is admitted to practice in North Carolina and is a member of the Bankruptcy and Business, Banking & Commercial Law sections of the North Carolina Bar Association. He has been a member of the Panel of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees, Eastern District of North Carolina since 1983. He is active in the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Council of Certified Bankruptcy Specialists, the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, and the Turnaround Management Association.

Holmes is legal counsel to the Occoneechee Council Boy Scouts of America, a member of the Occoneechee Council Executive Board, and is an Eagle Scout. He serves on the board of directors for the North Carolina Museum of History Associates.  He is chairman emeritus and a past president and director of the Alzheimer’s Association of Eastern North Carolina Chapter. He is active in the Rotary Club of Raleigh and as a member of the Oakview Advisory Board. He is a past member of the Raleigh Historic Districts Commission and a graduate of Leadership Raleigh.

Holmes earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Davidson College in 1978 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1981.