Heryka R. Knoespel

Heryka is a first-chair litigator who guides clients through pre-filing disputes, litigation, arbitrations, investigations, enforcement, and regulatory matters. She represents clients in federal, state, and administrative courts throughout all procedural phases, including dispositive motions and trials. Heryka has experience defending a range of matters from single plaintiff to class action litigation.

Heryka also serves as her clients’ go-to regulatory counsel, advising them on compliance issues as well as state and federal government investigations, attorneys general actions, and enforcement proceedings.

As a native Spanish speaker, Heryka also handles diverse matters for clients serving Spanish-speaking customers in the U.S. and multinational clients with operations in Latin America and Spain. Her language skills enable her to conduct interviews and review documents in Spanish without third-party interpreters. Heryka’s work includes advising on state foreign-language disclosure laws, fair lending, and UDAAP, as well as conducting bilingual internal investigations and operations reviews for multinational companies. She also has significant experience with issues related to marketing and offering products and services in non-English languages.

Heryka is committed to her pro bono practice and regularly volunteers with nonprofit organizations. She is also actively involved with the Mecklenburg Bar Association’s committees and programming.

• Obtained a voluntary dismissal for a multinational investment management and wealth management company of a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme-related lawsuit filed in federal court.
• Obtained a voluntary dismissal for a national bank of a Ponzi scheme-related lawsuit in state court.
• Obtained a voluntary dismissal for a national bank of a lawsuit alleging violations of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
• Prevailed on motions to dismiss filed in cases where plaintiffs sought to hold bank responsible for fraud committed by a third party.
• Prevailed on motions to compel arbitration in various lawsuits.
• Prevailed in arbitrations pending before the American Arbitration Association (AAA).
• Obtained orders of dismissal in various state agency matters where complainant alleged discrimination in violation of civil rights laws.
• Manage litigation portfolio for matters across the U.S. for a national bank client.
• Counseled financial institutions on the provision of financial products and services to consumers with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).
• Conducted an internal investigation into a major IT systems outage at a financial institution and coordinated responses to regulators.
• Conducted a comprehensive internal audit of Forms I-9 to ensure compliance.
• Participated in an internal investigation into allegations of employee misconduct at a major financial institution involving more than 700 employee interviews over a short period in response to demands from banking regulators.
• Negotiated terms of consent order with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on behalf of financial services institution.
• Obtained dismissal of a housing discrimination complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Fair Housing Act against a financial services institution.

• Best Lawyers in America®: Ones to Watch: Litigation – Banking and Finance (2025-2026)
• Named to “Legal Elite,” Litigation, Business North Carolina (2023-2024)
• Selected for inclusion into the North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society (2018-2021)