Nan Hannah Receives 2026 Evelyn M. Coman Award
The NCBA Evelyn M. Coman Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Construction Law recognizes a lawyer in North Carolina who has made a significant contribution to the field through case law or other professional achievements. Recipients exhibit a strong record of volunteerism and have consistently upheld the highest ideals of the profession through dedicated careers in construction law.
Nan Hannah, partner and attorney at Hannah Sheridan & Cochran LLP, is the 2026 recipient.
“Nan is an unfailing leader, volunteer, mentor and friend who is always willing to give her time, energy and perspective to help the Construction Law Section better serve its members and the public,” said Caroline Trautman of Mayhew Trautman, LLP. “During her long career in construction law, she has set the highest example of professionalism in our practice. We are so fortunate to know and work with Nan!”
Nan earned her law degree from Washington and Lee University in 1993. She worked as a research assistant with the North Carolina Supreme Court and with an insurance defense firm before beginning a long and still-active career in construction law.
During her career, Nan has represented construction industry participants in lien, bond and collection matters for many years and was part of the section’s successful effort to propose amendments to North Carolina’s mechanics’ lien statute that became law in 2013.
“Like her dad, Walter Hannah, the first recipient of the Coman Award 24 years ago, Nan is committed to encouraging young professionals and promoting and guiding their professional and personal development,” said David Senter of Maynard Nexsen.
Walter was also the section’s founder and first chair, so Nan learned a great deal about the section and the field of construction law through him. Because of this, and because Nan herself is a longtime section member, she has been instrumental in keeping the section in touch with its history and roots while also looking to the future.
She contributed to the Construction Section History Book published in 2013. She also served as section chair during the 2011-12 bar year and has served as a council member and active participant in council meetings for many years.
“Nan has been a guiding star and invaluable resource for our NCBA Construction Law Section and for North Carolina construction law generally,” said Senter. “She is always willing to help, offer feedback and share ideas. In fact, when we have a question about nearly anything, the response often is, ‘I don’t know, but let’s ask Nan.'”
Nan is a certified superior court mediator, is on the American Arbitration Association roster of construction arbitrators and currently co-chairs the section’s ADR Committee. Nan has also devoted her time and attention to other NCBA committees and efforts, chairing the Transitioning Lawyers Commission from 2012-14 and from 2019-22 and serving on the NCBA Board of Governors.
She has been an avid supporter of pro bono efforts, including organizing, volunteering in and recruiting volunteers for the North Carolina Bar Foundation’s annual NC Lawyers on Call (4ALL) program, which provides free legal guidance to members of the public. Nan is a past chair of the NCBA CLE Committee, and in 2012, the NCBA Foundation’s Continuing Legal Education Committee named her CLE Volunteer of the Year.
Nan’s biggest impact on her construction law colleagues may simply be her consistent presence, love and care for the section. In many ways, she is the spirit, and even the conscience, of our section. She is quick to devote her time to the questions, problems or conversations that are the nuts and bolts of our section’s activities.
Learn more about the efforts of the Construction Law Section.