Donna Ray Chmura practices in the areas of contract and commercial law, business formation, employment law, commercial real estate, merger and acquisition, licensing, trademark and copyright prosecution and other areas of corporate legal interest. She is a member of the Business, Finance & Real Estate practice group in the firm's North Carolina office.

The heart of Donna's practice is counseling business leaders through transactions during the entire life of the company, including formation; growth; sale, merger, or winding-up; and business succession planning.  Donna enjoys working with entrepreneurs to bring a business concept to the marketplace, as well as guiding a going business through critical transactions or negotiations.  Her favorite work is drafting, reviewing and negotiating contracts.  That is understandable, given her writing background.

Donna Chmura earned her B.S. Degree in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, after which she worked as a reporter in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Donna received her J.D. with honors from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she was a member of The George Washington Law Review, the Giles S. Rich Inn of Court, and served as News Editor of the law school's award-winning student newspaper, The Advocate. 

Donna's significant communications skills are applied to helping business owners and executives articulate goals and implement the legal infrastructure to support these goals. Her clients know her for being able to explain complex legal issues in a way that makes them clear and comprehensible.  She empowers her clients to make better, more informed decisions, and to understand how their decisions affect their bottom lines today and in the months and years ahead.

Donna is a member of the North Carolina State Bar, North Carolina Bar Association, and Durham County Bar Association. She is a frequent speaker in the Triangle business community, including seminars on franchising, protecting small businesses and business formation.  She has been on the faculty for the North Carolina Bar Association's "Practical Skills" course to teach new lawyers how to choose a business entity and open a legal practice, as well as a National Business Institute seminar entitled "Construction Law:  What Do You Do When..."

Donna is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, and currently lives in Durham with her family.  She is active in the Durham Chamber of Commerce's Professional Women's Network, and has been active in the Durham arts community, serving as a Chairman and Steering Committee member for the North Carolina Jewish Film Festival and working on multiple committees for the Durham Arts Council's two largest projects: CenterFest and Edible Arts.  She is on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina. In her free time, she enjoys reading, baking and is an avid skier.