Eric Spengler
Partner
352 North Caswell Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28204
Tel: (704) 910-5469
Email: eric@s-a.law
Eric leads the Labor & Employment and Civil Litigation practices at Spengler & Agans, PLLC.He represents plaintiffs and defendants in employment disputes and other civil litigation matters, ranging from investor fraud cases, wage-and-hour claims, whistleblower and employment disputes, and business “divorces.” Eric’s breadth of experience allows him to advise clients from a holistic perspective, and he takes pride in helping individual and organizational clients navigate our complex legal system.
Eric has tried cases in state and federal court and in private proceedings before the American Arbitration Association. He also has appeared before the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Eric has been recognized as a talented attorney by his peers, consistently appearing on the lists of “Legal Elite” and “Super Lawyers” in North Carolina. Opposing counsel recognize Eric as a thorough litigator who exhausts the civil-discovery toolkit to get to the truth of a matter.
Eric leverages his strong legal research skills and his courtroom experience as an advocate in legal briefs and hearings. While not averse to trying a case when necessary, Eric embraces his role as a counselor at law—recognizing when negotiating a settlement is the best option. Above all else, Eric strives to be a conscientious advocate for his clients.
Born in upstate New York, Eric spent most of his childhood in Muncie, Indiana, known by sociologists as “Middletown America.” Eric attended law school at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law where he interned for the Hon. David F. Hamilton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
In his free time, Eric enjoys live music, cooking, sports, travel, and renovating his 1910-era Craftsman-style house in Villa Heights. While Eric has traveled to five continents, his “happy place” remains the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
Eric has always been civically minded, and he went to law school after graduating with a degree in political science. In the Charlotte community, Eric is an advocate for parks and the environment. In 2016, he was named Sustain Charlotte’s “Volunteer of the Year” for his service on a city council task force. From 2016-2019 he served as a supervisor on the Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District. In 2019, he formed a non-profit, Friends of Queens Park, that was dedicated to bringing a “Central Park” to Charlotte. Eric currently serves as the secretary of the Villa Heights Community Organization.
Recent representative engagements include:
- secured a jury verdict in the North Carolina Business Court on behalf of three adult children for breach of fiduciary duty against a trustee of their late father’s estate;
- defended David Goggins, former special forces soldier and Guinness world recordholder ultra-endurance athlete, in a breach of contract claim in federal district court brought by a Hollywood filmmaker over the rights to his life story;
- appeared before the Supreme Court of North Carolina on an interlocutory appeal related to the arbitrability of an intrafamily dispute;
- represented whistleblower-relators in a qui tam (False Claims Act) suit alleging fraudulent Medicare billing to the United States government;
- represented a group of retirees in a claim for constructive fraud against a financial advisor in a case before the North Carolina Business Court;
- tried an Americans with Disabilities Act case on behalf of a restaurant manager, before the American Arbitration Association;
- represented a campaign worker who brought claims against a presidential campaign for vicarious liability after an alleged assaulted with a deadly weapon by the campaign’s state director, in an appeal before the North Carolina Court of Appeals;
- represented an engineer who reported alleged fraud by his supervisor in a contract involving Amazon, in a claim brought in federal district court under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;
- defended an employee against claims brought by the former employer for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets, in a case tried before a jury in the superior court of North Carolina; and
- represented an employee-defendant against claims brought by the former employer for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets, in a case tried before a jury in the superior court of North Carolina.
Recent news and insights from Eric on the firm’s blog:
- Important Considerations for Laying Off or Furloughing Workers During COVID-19
- COVID-19 Crisis and North Carolina Small Businesses: Top 10 Steps to Take Advantage of Emergency Financial Aid
- The Families First Coronavirus Relief Act Provides Tax Relief to Small Businesses in Exchange for COVID-19 Paid Leave.
Eric has embraced the Spengler & Agans commitment to giving back, and he is an active participant in various professional and civic organizations. Eric’s recent projects and commitments include:
Villa Heights Community Organization Secretary (2024-present)
Friends of Queens Park, Inc., Executive Director (2019-2023)
Mecklenburg County Bar Association, Civil Litigation Section, President (2018-2019) and Vice President (2017-2018)
Mecklenburg County Soil and Water Conservation District, Supervisor (2016-2019)
Charlotte City Council Task Force (Stormwater), Citizen Representative for Sustain Charlotte (2015-2016)
Areas of Practice
Bar Admissions
- State of North Carolina
- United States District Courts for the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of North Carolina
Education
- Indiana University—Bloomington Michael Maurer School of Law (J.D. 2012, magna cum laude)
- Indiana University School of Public Affairs (M.P.A., 2012)
- University of Denver (B.A. 2008, magna cum laude)
Awards & Recognition
- North Carolina Super Lawyers —Rising Stars (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America, in the field of Labor and Employment (2023, 2024, 2025)
- Business North Carolina “Legal Elite”—Litigation/Young Guns (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)