Tiger Woods’ extramarital affairs might have shanked his reputation, but it’s developer Jim Anthony who’s in the rough.

As 2009 came to a close, Gov. Beverly Perdue made sure North Carolinians knew presents were on the way just in time for Christmas.

Elsewhere in this issue you’ll find an article I wrote about Ken Lewis, the beleaguered (and now former) chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp. In the course of researching that piece, I realized that while there is near unanimity about the need for reform of securities regulation — after all, no one is so foolish as to make the case that things were fine just as they were — there is much debate over the shape, and severity, of the overhaul. 

As the autumn sun warms the woods, Michael Duke settles in for another day. On assignments like this, he sometimes dons a ghillie suit, the tattered camouflage that snipers wear to blend into underbrush.

Commenting on one of his photos that appeared in this magazine, Will Mitchell joked that he picks stocks better than he picks barbers.

2010 Legal Elite winner: Intellectual Property - David M. Krasnow, Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP,, Raleigh

2010 Legal Elite winner: Litigation - G. Gray Wilson, Wilson, Helms and Cartledge, Winston-Salem

2010 Legal Elite winner: Real Estate - Timothy G. Sellers, Sellers, Hinshaw, Ayers, Dortch & Lyons PA, Charlotte

2010 Legal Elite winner: Tax/Estate Planning - Michael H. Godwin, Schell Bray Aycock Abel & Livingston PLLC, Greensboro

2010 Legal Elite winner: Young Gun - Steven K. McCallister, Shanahan Law Group PLLC, Raleigh