Kimberly R. Coward

Kim Coward is a Board Certified Specialist in Real Property Law and Residential Transactions. She has practiced with Coward, Hicks & Siler, PA since 1988, focusing almost exclusively on Real Property matters including contracts, easements, property owner associations, entity formation, foreclosures, and real estate development. Kim is an active member of both the North Carolina State Bar and North Carolina Bar Association. For well more than a decade, Kim has served legal governance and specialization in North Carolina through her dedication to the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. Currently Chair of the Board, she previously served as a member and Chair of the Real Property Legal Specialization Subcommittee. Kim is a member of the Real Property Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. In further service to the Bar, Kim has served as an advisory member to the Ethics Committee from 2014 to 2020. Being part of the small communities of Cashiers and Highlands has provided Kim the opportunity to immerse herself and engage in community services in a more involved way. Kim participates in a multitude of civic activities, including having served on the Cashiers Highlands Humane Society Board, the Western Carolina University Honor College, the Cashiers Community Foundation, the Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce and theHighlands-Cashiers Hospital Board of Directors. She currently serves on the board of the Highlands Biological Foundation. Perhaps one of the most fulfilling services for Kim was being one of the founders, and then the Board Chair, for the Summit Charter School, which was one of North Carolina's first charter schools. Kim has been recognized as "Business Person of the Year" by the Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce in 2001. She was also included in North Carolina Bar Journal's "Profiles of Specialization" magazine series in June 2015. Kim has been listed in Best Lawyers in America Real Estate Section for the last two years. Kim was born in the midwest, and graduated summa cum laude from Iowa State University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1988, where she was a member of the law review. Awards and Honors Honors Women Leaders in the Law 2015, Legal Leaders™, American Law Media and Fortune Magazine, 2015 Business Person of the Year; awarded by Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce., 2001 Certified Specialist in Real Property Law: Residential Transactions; certified by North Carolina Board of Legal Specialization., 2006

• Partner

• Summit Charter School
• Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society
• Christ School
• Rabun Gap Nacoochee School
• Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce
• Jackson County Travel and Tourism Authority
• Cashiers Community Foundation
• Ancillary Businesses
• Teaches scuba diving

• North Carolina, 1988
• Specialties and Certifications
• Board Certified Specialist in Real Property Law (Residential Transactions)

• North Carolina State Bar Member, - 1988
• 30th Judicial District Bar, - 1988
• North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, Board Member, Appointed by the NC State Bar Council, October 2015, Chair 2021
• North Carolina State Bar, Board of Legal Specialization Real Property Law Subcommittee, Member, 2007 - 2013; Chair, 2012 - 2013
• WCU Honor College, Advisory Board Member, 2015
• Highlands Biological Foundation, Board Member, June 2016
• North Carolina Bar Association, Member 1988
• North Carolina State Bar, Ethics Committee, Advisory Member, 2014-2020
• Highlands-Cashiers Board of Realtors, Attorney Member, since 2000
• North Carolina Bar Association, Real Property Law Section, Member, since 2011