About Kimberly H.
Kimberly H. Whitley is the managing partner at Patrick, Harper & Dixon, LLP, located in Hickory, North Carolina. She has been practicing law for over 30 years, focusing on business and corporate law, estate planning and administration, and elder and special needs law. She is a board-certified specialist in estate planning and probate law. Ms. Whitley earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with honors and distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990.
She then obtained her Juris Doctor with high honors from the same institution in 1993. During her undergraduate studies, she was a John M. Morehead Scholar, National Merit Scholar, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In law school, she served as a staff member of the North Carolina Law Review from 1991 to 1992 and as Notes and Comments Editor from 1992 to 1993. She was also inducted into the Order of the Coif. After law school, Ms.
Whitley clerked for the Honorable Judge Clyde H — Hamilton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 2009, she was appointed by the Catawba County Commissioners to serve on the Aging Leadership Planning Team, which works to enhance Catawba County as a livable, senior-friendly community. In 2023, she was appointed to the Specialization Board for Estate Planning & Probate Law for the North Carolina State Bar and to the Elder Law Section Council for the North Carolina Bar Association. Ms. Whitley is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and has been practicing in North Carolina since 1993. She is also a member of the Catawba County Bar Association and the North Carolina Bar Association, where she serves on the Estate Planning Section and the Elder Law Section.
She has been recognized for her contributions to the legal field, including receiving the Lawyer’s Weekly 2014 Women of Justice Business Practitioner Award and being named the Young Lawyers’ Division Judicial District Representative of the Year for 2001–2002. In her community, Ms. Whitley has served on the Board of Directors for the Catawba County United Way and as past Treasurer of the local chapter of the American Field Service. She has also been involved with the Catawba Medical Foundation, the Hickory Museum of Art, and the Catawba Valley Community Foundation. She and her husband, David, reside in Hickory with their son, Colson.
