Meet Our Attorneys
Holly Fairbairn
Holly Fairbairn received her BA in Economics and Religious Studies from Guilford College in 1989. She worked as an outdoor guide for five years, spending many winter months doing community service projects before entering law school in 1994.
She graduated with honors from the NCCU School of Law and worked at Pisgah Legal Services for six years. She then joined the firm of Ganly, Ramer and Strom, later the Law Office of Cynthia Strom. In 2006, she and Susan Chitwood formed Chitwood & Fairbairn, P.A. Ms. Fairbairn has written extensively and given presentations to her attorney peers on Ethics, Social Security, Medicaid, and other government benefits programs. She has spoken to groups of medical providers, insurance billers, and support groups including those related to living with brain injury, arthritis, mental illness, chronic pain, epilepsy, cancer, and fibromyalgia. She is a member of the Buncombe County Bar, the NCBA, and organizations committed to assisting those with disabilities, including NOSSCR (Sustaining Member) and NCAJ. She takes certain cases to federal court, and accepts referrals from other attorneys for representation of their clients in appeals or for brief writing. She is one of those attorneys that other attorneys call when they need to puzzle through an issue.
She is also an active mom, who loves music, running, soccer, and a version of volleyball in which the ball can bounce! She has been a volunteer Board member for Homeward Bound, WNCAP, and the Asheville Youth Ministry. Follow the link to the NC Bar Specialists web page: http://www.nclawspecialists.gov/
Susan Chitwood Barton
Susan Chitwood Barton serves as Of Counsel to the firm. She has been a licensed attorney since 1981 and graduated from and attended law school at the Indiana University, Bloomington. In 2006 she invited Attorney Holly Fairbairn to join her practice, the Law Offices of Susan Chitwood Barton. Ultimately they formed a Professional Association, Chitwood and Fairbairn, PA.
She serves as the Peace and Justice Chairperson at St. Barnabus Parish and has been a volunteer attorney with Pisgah Legal Services and the Animal Defense League.
We could add many other things, like her history as a litigator and a worker's compensation attorney, and her comfort speaking Spanish if clients need that, and the fact that she sometimes she has elevator dreams. She is an impressive and zealous advocate and is generally out of this world.
