Attorneys & Staff The team of Trest & Twigg consists of two attorneys and three support staff members.
Attorney Roy D. Trest practiced law from 1977 to 2023. He also served as a District Court Judge and was a certified Mediator in North Carolina. His previous practice focused mainly on Automobile Accidents and Injuries; Criminal Law; Civil Litigation; Driving While Impaired (DWI/DUI); Personal Injury; and Traffic Violations.
Attorney Tonia Trest Twigg was previously employed as a legal assistant and paralegal before her career change in 2002. She has a varied general practice which includes the areas of Estate Administration; Estate Planning; and Incompetency and Guardianship Proceedings.
Legal Assistant Belinda Vereen is a graduate of West Brunswick High School and received her CNA degree from Brunswick Community College.
Legal Assistant Greta Gore received her Bachelor of Social Work from UNCW.
Legal Assistant Jessica Fulford is a graduate of West Brunswick High School.
Office Manager Bill Twigg is a Johnston County, North Carolina native and married to Tonia Trest Twigg.
Roy D. Trest
Roy D. Trest is a native of Brunswick County, North Carolina, and a 1966 graduate of Shallotte High School. He was admitted to the North Carolina State Bar in 1977.
Mr. Trest earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1970. At Carolina, he was a member of Delta Sigma Pi. After graduation, he enlisted in the US Army Reserves.
In 1974, he was accepted at the University of Mississippi School Law where he later graduated in 1977. At Ole Miss, Mr. Trest interned with the District Attorney’s Office as a third year law student and prosecuted a multitude of criminal cases. He also was a member of Phi Alpha Delta.
Upon graduation, Mr. Trest returned to his hometown in Brunswick County and opened a sole practitioner’s office. In August of 1979, he was appointed District Court Judge by Governor James B. Hunt, and successfully sought election of that position. In January of 1985, Mr. Trest formed the law firm of Baxley and Trest with law partner, Douglas W. Baxley.
In January of 2005, he formed the partnership of Trest & Twigg with his daughter and law partner, Tonia Trest Twigg in Calabash. That office was located in his former childhood home. In March of 2017, they relocated the office to Shallotte in the former Cape Fear Farm Credit building situated between Jumping Java and Coastal Insurance.
Some of his many accomplishments included the following:
Presentation of a seminar on District Court Criminal Practice to the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (now the North Carolina Advocates for Justice)
Service on the Board of Governors for the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers from 1990 to 1996
Advocate of the PALS program
Recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine on September 15, 1984
Recipient of the 2011 Brunswick County Bar Hall of Fame award
Mr. Trest is a member of Shallotte Presbyterian Church where he has served as an elder
Mr. Trest has previously defended hundreds of DWI cases, multiple murder cases, and numerous criminal cases in both Superior and District Court. He also had a successful civil litigation career including two complex cases involving appeals before the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He was an accomplished personal injury and wrongful death attorney, and has settled and collected two notable cases in excess of $900,000.00.
His memberships include the North Carolina Bar Association and North Carolina State Bar. His previous practice areas included Automobile Accidents and Injuries; Criminal Law; Civil Litigation; Driving While Intoxicated; Personal Injury; Traffic Violations; and Wrongful Death. He is also a Certified Mediator in North Carolina.
Mr. Trest officially retired in 2023 after serving as Of Counsel for the firm since 2018.
Tonia Trest Twigg
Tonia Trest Twigg is a native of Brunswick County, North Carolina and a 1991 graduate of West Brunswick High School. She was admitted to the North Carolina State Bar in 2002.
Mrs. Twigg earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995, her paralegal certificate in Civil Litigation from Meredith College in 1998, and her Juris Doctorate degree from North Carolina Central University in 2002.
Upon college graduation, she worked as a paralegal for two years in her father’s former law firm, Baxley and Trest. During her paralegal studies, she worked for the law firms of Boxley, Bolton & Garber, and Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog, both in Raleigh. Mrs. Twigg also interned in the Employee Relations Division of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and in the Bill Drafting Department of the North Carolina General Assembly as a law student.
In 2002, she joined the law firm of Baxley and Trest as an Associate. In January of 2005, she formed the partnership of Trest & Twigg with her father, Roy D. Trest. The original Calabash office was located in the former childhood home of both her father and grandmother. Her mother, Donna, served as the firm’s office manager until her retirement in 2013.
Her memberships include the North Carolina Bar Association; North Carolina State Bar; North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys; Brunswick County Women’s Bar; and the Christian Legal Society. Her practice areas include Estate Administration; Estate Planning; and Incompetency and Guardianship Proceedings.
Mrs. Twigg has served as the Treasurer for the 13th Judicial District Bar, and is an active member of her church, Valorous Church in North Myrtle Beach. She has a son and a daughter.
To schedule an appointment with Attorney Tonia Trest Twigg, contact the office at 910-575-7337 or email info@trestandtwigg.com
About Us
Trest and Twigg, A Law Firm Representing people in need of legal assistance from our office located at 4631 Main St, Shallotte, NC 28470. Our lawyers are licensed to practice law in the state of North Carolina. We are a general practice law firm concentrating in the following matters: Estate Administration, Estate Planning and Incompetency and Guardianship Proceedings.
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CONTACT DETAILS
Phone:(910) 575 - 7337
Fax:910-575-7338
Email: info@trestandtwigg.com
PO Box 608, Shallotte, NC 28459.
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