2021
PERSONAL INJURY
The Power List recognizes the most respected and accomplished attorneys in an area of practice—a lawyer you might call yourself if you needed legal help in his or her field.
THE POWER L I S T
THE POWER L I S T
2021
www.nclawyersweekly.com
Circulation: 1-877-615-9536
PUBLISHER Liz Irwin lirwin@bridgetowermedia.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Andy Owens aowens@scbiznews.com EDITOR IN CHIEF
PARTNER, ABRAMS & ABRAMS RALEIGH
PERSONAL INJURY
704-377-6221 • 704-377-4258 fax: 1-800-876-5297 E-mail: service@bridgetowermedia.com
DOUG ABRAMS Doug Abrams knew from the age of 10 he wanted to be a trial attorney and followed in the footsteps of his father, who was an attorney in Greenville, South Carolina. Abrams has fond memories of going to his father’s law office with his brother on Saturdays and Sundays while he worked.
■ THE POWER LIST DOUG ABRAMS......................................................................3 MARK E. ANDERSON..............................................................3 ELWOOD BECTON ..................................................................4 KRISTEN BEIGHTOL ...............................................................4 WADE BYRD ..........................................................................5 W. THOMPSON COMERFORD .................................................5 LETO COPELEY ......................................................................6 DAVID M. DUKE .....................................................................6 H. LEE EVANS JR. ..................................................................7 WILLIAM GOLDFARB ..............................................................7 ELIZABETH G. “LIBBY” GRIMES ..............................................8 ANN GRONINGER ...................................................................8 J. MATTHEW LITTLE ..............................................................9 CARLOS E. MAHONEY ............................................................9
SAM MCGEE........................................................................10 CHARLES G. MONNETT III ....................................................12 RODNEY E. PETTEY..............................................................13 JOEL RHINE.........................................................................14 KENNETH B. ROTENSTREICH ...............................................14 ALLEN C. SMITH ..................................................................15 WYATT S. STEVENS .............................................................15 MATTHEW S. SULLIVAN .......................................................16 HOYT TESSENER .................................................................16 ISAAC THORP ......................................................................17 KARONNIE TRUZY ................................................................17 MONA LISA WALLACE..........................................................18 JANET WARD BLACK ...........................................................18 ROBERT E. ZAYTOUN ...........................................................19
“We ran up and down the hallways and were given a nickel to buy a Coca-Cola or an orange Fanta if we were relatively well-behaved,” Abrams said. Abrams has been practicing for more than 40 years alongside his wife, Margaret Abrams, and his son and daughter-in-law, Noah and Melissa Abrams, all of whom are partners at the firm of Abrams & Abrams in Raleigh. At Abrams & Abrams, the attorneys represent plaintiffs in catastrophic personal injury cases, tractor trailer wrecks, plant explosions and fire cases, products liability and defective products cases, and other personal injury matters. He has given numerous lectures and written extensively on personal injury and tort law and served as president of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice and currently serves on the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice. Abrams and his wife are both recipients of the Walter Clark Award, the highest award given by the NCAJ.
David Donovan
Among some of Abrams’ most notable cases were a $7.5 million settlement for negligence in a matter involving an automobile collision that had resulted in the injured plaintiff’s double amputation, and a $4 million settlement for a plaintiff who had been in a collision with a tree-trimming truck whose driver was unlicensed and had been intoxicated at the time of the wreck. The collision resulted in the plaintiff suffering multiple fractures and partial disability.
david.donovan@nclawyersweekly.com EDITORIAL Heath Hamacher, Reporter
In addition to many catastrophic personal injury cases involving trucks and tractor trailers and other heavy equipment vehicles and business tort cases, Abrams served as the lead counsel for over 25 employees injured in the fatal explosion and fire at the ConAgra Foods facility in Garner in 2009.
hhamacher@nclawyersweekly.com Scott Baughman, Digital Media Manager
Abrams also served as lead counsel for the employees injured or killed in the explosion of the West Pharmaceuticals plant in Kinston in 2003 and is currently serving as one of the attorneys in the litigation resulting from the fire at the Metropolitan Apartment Project in downtown Raleigh in 2017.
sbaughman@mecktimes.com Paul Fletcher, Contributing Editor paul.fletcher@nclawyersweekly.com ADVERTISING
MARK E. ANDERSON
Sheila Batie-Jones, Advertising Account Executive sheila.batie-jones@nclawyersweekly.com Lisa Arnold, Advertising Account Executive Sponsorships, Plaque & Reprint Sales larnold@bridgetowermedia.com ACCOUNTING & ADMINISTRATIVE
A Unique Approach to Full-Service Managed IT for 20-200 Person NC Law Firms
PARTNER, MCGUIREWOODS RALEIGH Mark Anderson has brought a wide range of complex cases to jury verdict over the course of his 30-year career. Anderson, a partner at McGuireWoods, leads the firm’s national trial team, defending clients across the country in a variety cases including product liability, commercial disputes, financial contracts, toxic torts, mass torts, and insurance.
Michael McArthur, Business Manager mmcarthur@bridgetowermedia.com CIRCULATION Disa Ehrler, Audience Development Manager dehrler@bridgetowermedia.com
Anderson was first drawn to medical malpractice because he appreciated the quality other attorneys brought to that practice area. “There were great lawyers on both sides of incredibly difficult cases, which were tried all the way to jury verdict,” Anderson said. He learned many lessons from working with attorneys he considered the best in North Carolina. “Those lessons have served me well, now that I am working against some of the best trial lawyers in the country.”
Learn More
(877) 395-0776
Among his most notable cases is his representation of and service as lead trial counsel for a major financial institution in defense of claims arising out of the World Trade Center collapse, a case that is still pending in the Southern District of New York. He has also tried to jury verdict more than 50 medical malpractice cases in defense of healthcare practitioners and institutions and served as lead appellate counsel in more than 35 reported decisions. In 2010 Anderson was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers.
PRODUCTION & OPERATIONS Laura Black, Supervisor, Special Publications April Huber, Designer
“I am particularly proud of this achievement as it recognized not only results, but ethics, professionalism, and civility,” Anderson said. Attorneys inducted into the ACTL by invitation must go through a lengthy interview process, and membership can never be more than 1 percent of the total attorney population across the United States and Canada.
Copyright 2021. BridgeTower Media. Material published in North Carolina Lawyers Weekly is compiled at substantial expense and is for the sole and exclusive use of purchasers and subscribers. The material may not be republished, resold, recorded, or used in any manner, in whole or in part, without the publisher’s explicit consent. Any infringement will be subject to legal redress.
The Technology Associates Team not only fixed our problem ASAP, they saved us money by not having to upgrade a hard drive and taught me a new trick! Awesome!
Anderson believes his willingness to listen carefully to the contentions and emotions on the other side of cases and his ability to bring all the facts and science before a jury is a characteristic that makes him a successful lawyer. In his personal injury practice, almost all his cases involve defending cases where there has been a catastrophic loss or injury on the opposing side.
- Bill K. NC Attorney
“My most gratifying ‘wins’ have occurred when in addition to a jury verdict in favor of our client, I have shared a hug and best wishes with the plaintiff who thanked me for the way our team handled their case and for the presentation of evidence which allowed them to understand the truth of what actually happened and why,” Anderson said.
iLawyers Media 2B | THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY
AUGUST 2021
AUGUST 2021
THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY | 3B
THE POWER L I S T
THE POWER L I S T
ELWOOD BECTON
WADE BYRD
ATTORNEY AT LAW, THE BECTON LAW GROUP RALEIGH
ATTORNEY, THE LAW OFFICES OF WADE BYRD FAYETTEVILLE
With 30 years of experience as a lawyer, Elwood Becton focuses on litigation on behalf of injured individuals and their families. When he first started out in practice in 1983, Becton was a general practitioner and later funneled his area of practice down to personal injury.
Providing free legal services in special circumstances is a hallmark of The Law Offices of Wade Byrd in Fayetteville. One notable case stands out, involving the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center disaster. In that case, Byrd joined hundreds of lawyers around the country to provide pro bono representation of the victims’ families. Over 1,745 claimants recovered $22 million.
“For some reason, I seem to enjoy it a little more than some of the other areas,” he says.
“I love what I do. I love getting up in the morning every day knowing that I have people who are hurting in the worst times of their lives, and that part is no fun,” Byrd said. “The most rewarding thing about representing injured people is achieving justice for them and making them whole again so their life is as secure as we can make it going forward.”
For Becton, the law is a family affair. Each of his three children also became attorneys, first following him to UNC School of Law and later joining his law firm, The Becton Law Group. Becton, who is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, is committed to helping injured people in and out of the courtroom and throughout his career, he has prevailed in many cases for his clients.
After starting his career as an assistant district attorney in Cumberland County, Byrd joined the law firm of Berry, Caudle, and Byrd in 1977. That firm became known as Berry & Byrd in 1986, and then The Law Offices of Wade Byrd in 1996. He focuses his practice on serious medical malpractice, personal injury, and other complex tort litigation.
“Numerous times I’ve had clients call, where the insurance company denied liability or they went to an attorney and the attorney would not touch the case or the attorney had the case and decided not to work on it further because the insurance company had denied liability, and I was able to analyze the case and say thus is not the way the case should go, and able to turn things around for the client, oftentimes without litigation, sometimes with litigation, and we were able to come out victorious,” Becton said.
Byrd has helped his clients to obtain some of the largest verdicts and settlements in North Carolina in recent years. In 2018, a Robeson County jury awarded a $13 million wrongful death verdict and a $4 million personal injury verdict in a case where Byrd represented two previously unconnected clients who were involved in the same crash caused by a tractor-trailer.
Becton believes his ability to be patient and listen are two qualities that have led to his success as a lawyer, and that it is important to seek to understand first, and then seek to be understood.
The following year, another one of Byrd’s clients, a mother whose newborn daughter suffered severe respiratory failure and cardiac arrest after a licensed practical nurse failed to replace her breathing tube, settled a lawsuit against a medical center for $15 million. And in early 2020, an Anson County jury awarded $6 million to the family of a man killed in a separate tractor-trailer crash, a family that Byrd represented along with another attorney.
“My staff tells me sometimes that I have the patience of Job, mostly because I try to listen to what my clients are saying,” Becton said. “Seek to understand first, and then to be understood, and to do that you have to listen to what the client is saying and analyze the case after doing that. And a lot of my clients tell me I have the ability to explain things to them on their level and make things clear to them.”
Over the years, Byrd has received numerous honors and awards, including the War Horse Award from the Southern Trial Lawyers, one of just three North Carolina attorneys to receive that award. He is a past president of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice and has received that organization’s highest recognition, the Walter Clark Award. He is also a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Becton is motivated by the joy he has brought to clients when their cases have been successful, and appreciates the thank yous they deliver back. “I find that my success is a more positive thing for my clients, and that is what has really helped them and helped put many of them back on their feet.”
KRISTEN BEIGHTOL
W. THOMPSON COMERFORD
TRIAL ATTORNEY, EDWARDS KIRBY RALEIGH
SENIOR PARTNER, COMERFORD CHILSON & MOSER WINSTON-SALEM Kristen Beightol practices catastrophic litigation at Edwards Kirby in Raleigh, where her focus is on medical malpractice. Beightol considers among her greatest accomplishments those times when her firm has recovered enough funds through settlement or trial to provide the care and support our clients need for their injuries.
As senior partner at Comerford Chilson & Moser in Winston-Salem, Tom Comerford brings diligence, skill, and understanding to many areas of law, and represents plaintiffs in a variety of matters and has recovered millions of dollars for them, including some of the largest verdicts and settlements in North Carolina’s history.
“All of our clients have been catastrophically injured. They deal with their injuries every second of every day,” Beightol said.
Early in Comerford’s career, he served as a court-appointed defense attorney for many cases, which he nurtured his love of trying cases. He also worked many hours in courtrooms as a civil defense lawyer. “A lot of the cases I tried were not the biggest or the most important, but they were all important to the clients,” he said. “It gave me the chance to learn to select juries, make jury arguments, and work on cases efficiently and effectively.”
Beightol has helped clients secure many such settlements during a career that has spanned more than two decades. In one such case, she was part of a team that secured a settlement of just over $13 million on behalf of the family of a child who suffered a brain injury after he was given a massive overdose of dextrose during an intravenous treatment.
Throughout his career, his practice has involved dozens of aviation cases, including the successful representation of the family of the Mike Smith, the pilot of the Space Shuttle Challenger, against Morton Thoikol, the manufacturer of the solid rocket boosters that caused the death of the entire crew. After lengthy discovery demonstrated that the fault for this tragedy rested on the defective “O-ring” seals, the case settled on a confidential basis on the eve of trial.
“When we’re able to obtain a full recovery for our clients, it means they will have the medical care and equipment that they require to live the most comfortable lives they can live despite their disabilities,” Beightol says. Because we can’t undo our clients’ injuries, the times we have been able to secure the money they need for their lifetime care and support are my greatest accomplishments.”
Comerford believes persistence, determination and empathy are key characteristics that have led to his success as a lawyer. He admits that he spends many hours thinking about his clients before going to sleep at night and waking up thinking about them in the morning.
Beightol has had a diverse range of legal experience, including nursing home, trucking, and products liability litigation and work defending clients accused of negligence. One attorney from another firm described Beightol as “thoughtful, consistent, and a fierce advocate for her clients. She upholds all of the cannons of ethics, and is held in high regards amongst her peers.”
“I often wonder if I were in their shoes what would I do?” he said. “These people really teach us a lot about courage, and how they deal with their lives, and they have resilience, and I have tried to bring that kind of persistence and passion to representing them.”
In addition to helping achieve results for clients, Beightol continues to draw on her journalism background by contributing to professional publications including the American Association for Justice’s Trial and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice’s Trial Briefs. She considers herself detail-oriented and chose medical malpractice because she enjoys learning and expanding her mind.
In addition to aviation matters, his practice involves catastrophic auto and trucking accidents, medical malpractice, inadequate security, defective products, and construction accidents. One of his firm’s most notable accomplishments is helping build houses for clients who need accessible homes. Many of those cases involve children who suffered brain damage at birth or in accidents. Comerford views these housing efforts as a way to help people in tangible ways.
“In my personal and professional life, I am at my best when I am learning and keeping my mind busy,” Beightol said. “Medical malpractice litigation enables me to do that every day. I am constantly learning medicine from top experts around the United States and love every minute of it.”
4B | THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY
AUGUST 2021
“As I look back on my career practicing law for 48 years, that is something I take pride in.”
AUGUST 2021
THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY | 5B
THE POWER L I S T
THE POWER L I S T
LETO COPELEY
H. LEE EVANS JR.
OF COUNSEL, WHITE & STRADLEY RALEIGH
OF COUNSEL, RAGSDALE LIGGETT RALEIGH Leto Copeley is of counsel with the firm White & Stradley in Raleigh, where her practice is devoted primarily to serving victims of sexual assault and abuse. She primarily brings claims on behalf of children and adults who were sexually abused, against the institutions that failed to protect them.
When Lee Evans was in law school at the University of North Carolina, he didn’t plan on practicing civil defense, but once he entered that practice area, he never looked back, and considers his transition into litigation one of his top achievements.
In 2019, Ben Bernake recruited Copeley to become the first ombudsman for the American Economic Association. She worked with Bernanke and other AEA leaders on efforts to make the economics profession safer and more welcoming to women and minorities.
“I found that I enjoyed the work and the people I worked with once I started the practicing this area of the law, and I still do,” Evans said. Evans is of counsel at Ragsdale Liggett in Raleigh, where he represents insurance companies, long term care providers, individual health care providers, and other individuals and entities. Over his career of more than 30 years, he has successfully tried many jury trials and arbitrations to verdict or award. He is a mediator and frequently arbitrates matters for both plaintiffs and defendants.
Among her many professional accomplishments, a few stand out. In McLean v. Patten Communities, Inc., Copeley represented a young Black woman who was fired from her job as a receptionist after she complained about being sexually and racially harassed. Her firing was devastating for her family. The case went on for six years through initial summary judgment for the defendant, followed by a reversal in the Fourth Circuit and ultimate settlement just before trial.
Among numerous cases Evans has defended, a few stand out. In an unfair and deceptive trade practice and bad faith lawsuit, he obtained partial summary judgment for his insurance company client, and the other claims were favorably settled before trial after evidence was discovered that the insured had falsified claim documents.
The plaintiff in Masood v. Erwin Oil Co. had been seriously injured after being shot in the neck during an armed robbery attempt at the convenience store where he worked. His employer had visited him while he was in bed recovering, gave him $8,000, and convinced him to sign a “settlement.” Copeley brought personal injury and workers’ compensation cases on his behalf. The Court of Appeals held that the convenience store owner, who worked for a multinational oil company, was Masood’s statutory employer.
He obtained a favorable ruling from the North Carolina Supreme Court on behalf of a safety equipment company in an electrocution case, which confirmed the defense of contributory negligence in breach of warranty matters in North Carolina. In a case brought against a fast food franchise by a customer who claimed he lost his sense of taste from tainted water at the restaurant, he obtained a favorable verdict from the jury which awarded approximately 1 percent of the amount sought by plaintiff, and ruled in favor of the defendant on the issue of punitive damages. The verdict was successfully affirmed by the North Carolina Supreme Court.
In Haarhuis v. Cheek I and Haarhuis v. Cheek II, Copeley’s client’s wife had been taking her early morning exercise walk when she was struck by a drunk driver. She suffered horrific injuries and eventually died. The driver’s insurance carrier rebuffed efforts to settle the case, so Copeley and David Stradley obtained a $4.295 million jury verdict in Chatham County. Haarhuis I set important precedent for voir dire and jury instructions in civil cases. Haarhuis II, which Copeley argued before the Court of Appeals, established that a judgment creditor may use receivership as a means to pursue insurance bad faith and legal malpractice claims possessed by a judgment debtor.
Evans believes his ability to treat everyone in the litigation process—judges, opposing counsel, litigants and witnesses—with courtesy, honesty, dignity, and respect is the key to his success as an attorney.
Copeley says she chose to practice in the personal injury area of the law to help survivors of injustice and crime. “Crime victims, especially, can gain a sense of empowerment from the civil justice system that the criminal system is not set up to give them,” Copeley said.
“You don’t have to use scorched-earth tactics to be successful in litigation if you are true to yourself and act ethically and with character in handling your cases,” Evans said.
DAVID M. DUKE
WILLIAM GOLDFARB
SHAREHOLDER, MANAGING PARTNER, YOUNG MOORE AND HENDERSON RALEIGH
ATTORNEY AT LAW, THE LAW OFFICES OF WILLIAM GOLDFARB MONROE
David M. Duke, managing partner at Young Moore and Henderson of Raleigh, has over 30 years of trial and litigation experience in North Carolina and federal court. He focuses on the defense and representation of clients in trucking and transportation, product liability, and business litigation, and leads the firm’s trucking and transportation practice group.
William Goldfarb credits his father with the inspiration to practice law. Carl Goldfarb, who was an attorney, inspired his son to always seek truth and justice for those who had no voice.
He appreciates the collegiality among attorneys and cites the depth of friendships he has built within both the plaintiff and defense bars as among his most valued accomplishments. Among his many milestones are several judgments in favor of his clients including a summary judgment in favor of a volunteer first responder, affirmed by the North Carolina Court of Appeals, in which the plaintiff was erroneously identified as fatally injured and later determined to be alive.
Goldfarb was responsible for two cases in the appellate court that helped change and shape the law in personal injury cases in North Carolina. Robinson v. Shue involved how to calculate whether an offer of judgment had been beaten in order to obtain attorney’s fees, and Miller v. B.H.B. Enterprises, Inc. held that a manager’s knowledge and involvement in willful and wanton conduct is enough to hold the entire business liable for punitive damages.
Duke also successfully defended a Canada-based trucking company in a wrongful death action in North Carolina federal court which was prosecuted by a nationally recognized attorney. The claim involved the death of an 18-year-old child survived by both parents. Following dismissal of the punitive damage claim on summary judgment, the case was tried to verdict, based on admitted liability. The ultimate verdict was within the range suggested to the jury, and less than 5 percent of the amount requested by the plaintiff during closing arguments.
In 2019, Goldfarb tried a medical malpractice case with co-counsel Shel Robinson in Burke County. “Part of the defense was that our client had a mental condition called conversion disorder and that she should not be trusted to tell the truth,” Goldfarb said. “We embraced our client’s issues and weaknesses and worked hard every day and night for the two-week trial.”
“Trying cases can be scary, frustrating and nerve-wracking,” Goldfarb said. “Despite those hurdles and feelings, I do not let fear step in the way of doing what I think is right for my client.”
The jury ruled for the plaintiff. Goldfarb recalls the best moment came after the trial. “In the courthouse parking lot, each of the jurors gave our client a hug and said they believed in her and wished her the best for the future,” Goldfarb said.
He also represented a national motor carrier involved in an interstate motor vehicle accident, where the plaintiff alleged injuries and damages exceeding $2 million. The verdict rendered $60,000, based on admitted liability.
Another memorable case involved a 16-year-old injured in a crash, suffering a broken arm and injuries to both knees. Her treating physician testified that her knee injuries were from her being overweight, even though her attorneys had pictures showing bruises and abrasions from hitting the dashboard. Goldfarb sent her to a different orthopedic surgeon who performed surgeries on both knees and testified that the injuries came from the wreck.
He is also a past member of ALFA International ’s transportation practice group. The presentations he has made and publications he has authored include a deposition skills training program titled “What Plaintiff’s Lawyers do Wrong in Depositions.” He was also one of the two authors of “Can You Protect the Investigation?”, Truck Accident Litigation.
“This was the first case I tried without putting the medical bills into evidence, and we had a big win,” he said.
Duke believes his responsiveness to his clients’ needs and his ability find creative ways to meet those needs makes him a successful lawyer, and he says his affinity for the personal injury area came naturally.
Goldfarb says he entered the legal profession to help people. “As an advocate, I put my clients’ interests before mine. If taking a case to trial is necessary, then I am in there fighting like heck for my client.”
“I find this practice area interesting, and it fits my personality,” he said.
6B | THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY
AUGUST 2021
AUGUST 2021
THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY | 7B
THE POWER L I S T
THE POWER L I S T
ELIZABETH G. “LIBBY” GRIMES
J. MATTHEW LITTLE
MANAGING PARTNER, GRIMES YEOMAN MOORESVILLE
PARTNER, TEAGUE CAMPBELL RALEIGH Elizabeth G. “Libby” Grimes started her career as an insurance defense attorney, but after 15 years she switched to the plaintiff’s side of the courtroom.
Matt Little brings 28 years of experience to his litigation practice at Teague Campbell in Raleigh. Focusing on defense in complex claims involving wrongful death and major catastrophic accidents, medical malpractice, professional and products liability claims, and commercial litigation, Little provides counsel to a variety of medical and mental health clinics and their providers in North Carolina, including psychiatric clinics, dialysis clinics, labor and delivery units, and traveling nurse programs.
“I realized my heart and personality associated more with the plaintiff’s side,” Grimes said. As managing partner at Grimes Yeoman in Mooresville, Grimes represents plaintiffs in cases involving serious bodily injuries, wrongful death, and traumatic brain injuries. Her top career accomplishment was obtaining a policy limits settlement of $6 million for an 8-year-old child who became paralyzed after doing a back bend in a gymnastics class.
He regularly defends high-profile medical malpractice cases and was one of the lead counsels in the Duke Health hydraulic fluid lawsuits. Little also represents defendants in Section 1983 claims involving state and local prisoners, traumatic brain injury cases, and claims of deliberate misconduct.
“I never will forget the look of desperation on her parents’ faces when I met with them shortly after their daughter had been released from the hospital and they had been told she would never walk again because of a spinal cord stroke,” Grimes said. “I promised the teary-eyed parents I would do everything in my power to help them get a recovery for their daughter.”
One case that stands out is a four-week-long medical malpractice suit he tried to a defense jury verdict in Forsyth County Superior Court in a case involving five different law firms, and in which plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award $27 million.
The recreation center denied liability, contended that they knew of no injury and the child was not crying but had only complained that her legs hurt, Grimes said. It took over two years of protracted litigation before the case settled on the eve of trial.
Among Little’s top professional accomplishments, the one he values the most is earning his clients’ trust. “Getting to the point in my career where clients feel comfortable with me serving as lead counsel in multimillion-dollar wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases was important,” Little said.
“I look back on this case as a major accomplishment in my professional career because of the exhaustive work we did to develop a theory of liability and to establish convincing expert testimony on medical causation,” Grimes said. “The theory of liability was cemented after deposing the instructor and developing that the instructor had improperly spotted the child while she was doing a back bend.”
Matt maintains relationships with experts across disciplines and is able to use those relationships to enhance his client’s defense. “I feel comfortable interacting with a broad swath of people. Being able to interact and work well with many different types of people is a large portion of being a defense attorney,” he said.
Grimes cites perseverance as the quality that makes her a successful attorney and says she doesn’t stop digging until she finds the evidence needed to obtain fair compensation for her clients.
Little will admit he loves a good challenge and enjoys lifelong learning opportunities, and that is what led him to his chosen practice area.
“I take every matter, bit or small, to heart like my client is my family,” Grimes said. “I strongly empathize with my clients and worry for them, and while this causes added stress in my life, it is how I am, and I believe part of the reason for my success.”
“I chose personal injury defense because I wanted to maintain a diverse book of business to keep me challenged and intellectually stimulated,” Little said. “After 28 years, I still find myself learning something new every day through the variety of cases that I handle.”
ANN GRONINGER
CARLOS E. MAHONEY
BIKE LAW NORTH CAROLINA, JOHNSON & GRONINGER CHARLOTTE AND DURHAM
PARTNER, GLENN, MILLS, FISHER & MAHONEY DURHAM
In her practice, Ann Groninger combines her passions for advocating for individuals and for bicycling culture. At Johnson & Groninger, she has a special interest in representing victims of bicycle crashes and is involved with Bike Law, a national network of attorneys representing bicyclists.
Carlos E. Mahoney, a partner at Glenn, Mills, Fisher & Mahoney in Durham, prosecutes and defends civil cases in the state and federal courts of North Carolina, representing individuals and small businesses.
“I have written The Ride Guide, a booklet explaining the North Carolina Laws that apply to bicyclists,” Groninger said. “Bicycling is rarely mentioned in our statutes and bicyclists are left to figure out how the motor vehicle law applies to them.”
“I chose to practice personal injury law because I enjoy helping people navigate the complexities of the legal system after experiencing the worst, or one of the worst, events in their life,” he says. In one of Mahoney’s most notable cases, he represented Stephen Phelps a soldier in the U.S. Army who was training to become a Green Beret.
Her passion for the law and cycling led her to team up with South Carolina Bike Law founder Peter Wilborn, and form North Carolina Bike Law, which has now grown into the national Bike Law organization.
On February 23, 2002, during a training exercise in Moore County, Phelps and another soldier, Tallas Tomeny, dressed in civilian clothes, were passengers in a pickup truck driven by a civilian volunteer. The vehicle was stopped by a Moore County deputy sheriff, and during the traffic stop, the deputy shot and killed Tomeny, and shot and critically wounded Phelps while he was running away. Mahoney represented Phelps in a civil rights action alleging excessive force against the deputy and the Moore County Sheriff’s Office. In October 2009, Mahoney and his law partner, Stewart Fisher, tried the case for 11 days before a federal jury in Greensboro. The jury returned a verdict finding that the deputy used excessive force and awarding Phelps $650,000 in compensatory damages and $200,000 in punitive damages. The case later settled for $1,230,000 because Phelps was also entitled to recover legal fees, litigation expenses, costs, and interest.
One of Groninger’s most significant accomplishments was a favorable verdict in a case involving a cyclist who was killed while riding his bike in Durham County. The defense claimed the case was worth less than $1 million, yet Groninger and her law partner, Valerie Johnson, won $4.5 million for their client, the victim’s spouse. “It was the first case in North Carolina, of which I am aware, in which the plaintiff was given permission to proceed with punitive damages claim based on distracted diving,” Groninger says. “I knew this family was deserving, and I put my heart and soul into the case.” She once took a wrongful death case that other lawyers have turned down, because it appeared impossible. A deceased bicyclist had been found in the road on a dark morning. Her bike had minimal reflectors and no lights. She was a young mother struggling with mental illness, riding her bike 10 miles to work.
Mahoney has also helped to secure large jury verdicts and settlements for many other clients who were harmed by misconduct by government officials, including a motor vehicle negligence claim against the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office, a claim on behalf of the family of a man who died in custody in Wayne County, a sexual harassment claim against an Iredell County Sheriff’s Office investigator, and a civil rights lawsuit against a Wilmington police detective.
“The driver who hit her was speeding and moved his truck out of the way, leaving the woman in the road where she was struck again by another driver,” Groninger said. “Someone had to fight for her, and we survived summary judgment and got compensation for her children.”
Throughout his career, Mahoney has handled numerous civil rights cases against government, public officials and employees, and businesses.
Groninger credits stubbornness and a refusal to surrender as the basis for her successful practice.
“I have always tried to stand up for those who I felt were being treated unfairly by others,” he said. “By handling civil rights cases, I have been able to do this in a professional capacity.”
“If I feel strongly that a wrong needs to be righted, I will not give up.”
8B | THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY
AUGUST 2021
AUGUST 2021
THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY | 9B
THE POWER L I S T
SAM MCGEE PARTNER, TIN, FULTON, WALKER & OWEN CHARLOTTE Sam McGee has recovered over $100 million for his clients, including verdicts of $4 million, $3.85 million, and $2 million. He has tried cases ranging from medical malpractice to business torts, nursing home abuse to will contests, and car wrecks to inadequate security cases. McGee joined Tin, Fulton, Walker & Owen as a partner in Charlotte in 2013. Throughout his career, he has obtained recoveries of at least seven figures in North Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, and New Jersey. Among many notable cases, a few stand out. In 2019, McGee and his co-counsel, Mike Daisley, received a trial verdict from the North Carolina Industrial Commission in a case involving a 7-year-old killed while crossing a road to try to board his school bus. The bus stop was dangerous in that it required the boy to cross a 55 mph road with no crosswalk, and the bus driver was a supervisor who knew of the danger and neither reported it nor did anything to correct it. The state denied it did anything wrong, and even tried to blame the child and his mother. It took two appeals and several years to get the case to trial, but the deputy commissioner ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor, awarding the statutory maximum award against the state for both the child and his mother. The total verdict was $2,000,000. The pre-trial offer was $0. In 2018, McGee and his co-counsel, Jon Moore, received a jury verdict of $3,850,000 in a case involving the death of a construction worker who was killed when a trench collapsed on him at a construction site. The defendant general contractor blamed the worker for his own death, and only made very low settlement offers before trial. The jury found that the general contractor was grossly negligent in its handling of the construction site and its hiring of a sub-contractor unqualified for trenching work. This case is believed to be the highest jury verdict in Union County history for personal injury or wrongful death. McGee says his decision to practice personal injury law developed gradually during law school and shaped by personal experience. He recalls feeling sympathetic toward the plaintiff side, even as he served as a summer associate for a defense firm. He was also unhappy with the treatment his grandmother received at the nursing home where she lived.
Accident & Injury Law
“I spent a lot of time there and wasn’t very happy with what I saw,” McGee said. “I guess it’s no surprise that long term care cases are still a significant part of my practice.”
Accident & Injury Law
• Automobile Accidents • Workers’ Compensation • Truck and Motorcycle Accidents • Wrongful Death • On the Job Injury
Elwood Becton
Taurus Becton Marcus Becton
Dekhasta Becton Rozier
919.856.0414 www.bectonlaw.com
919.856.0414
www.bectonlaw.com
THE POWER L I S T
THE POWER L I S T
CHARLES G. MONNETT III
RODNEY E. PETTEY
FOUNDING PARTNER, CHARLES G. MONNETT & ASSOCIATES CHARLOTTE
PARTNER, YATES MCLAMB AND WEYHER RALEIGH
Charles G. Monnett III founded the law firm of Charles G. Monnett & Associates in Charlotte in 1983 to serve as an advocate for individuals who had suffered from the negligence of others. He focuses his practice on representing those who have experienced life-altering injuries as a result of auto and truck crashes or medical negligence.
Rodney Pettey, a partner at Yates McLamb and Weyher, focuses his practice on representing corporations and insurance companies in litigation involving products liability, construction disputes, catastrophic injury, premises liability, and trucking accidents. He also serves on the firm’s management committee.
“I believe the practice of law should always remain a profession dedicated to the service of others,” Monnett said.
During his career spanning nearly three decades, he has represented clients throughout the state in both federal and superior court. He has successfully defended cases arising out of multimillion-dollar construction projects, alleged brain injuries, and wrongful death.
Over the 38 years Monnett’s law firm has served clients, he has achieved many successes. Among some of the most notable outcomes is a $13 million medical negligence verdict for an infant who had been admitted to a North Carolina Hospital for observation following multiple skull fractures from a home accident but later suffered an undiagnosed case of bacterial meningitis that caused severe neurological damage.
He has helped many clients resolve difficult cases, including two well-known plant explosions in eastern North Carolina, a bridge collapse at the coast, and a power line cut to North Carolina’s barrier islands. Pettey, who enjoys being in the courtroom, chose to practice personal injury defense because he believed it was his best opportunity to try cases early in his career. “I’ve stayed in this area because of the outstanding people I work with,” he said.
Another successful case involved a $10 million car accident verdict in Mecklenburg County for a child who sustained a severe traumatic brain injury in an automobile accident. The defendants were represented by experienced insurance defense counsel that refused to make a settlement offer to the injured child. After the verdict in favor of the injured child, the insurance company filed an appeal on behalf of its insured but failed to post an appeal bond. A second lawsuit was then filed to force the insurance company to pay the entire amount of the verdict. The case eventually settled.
Pettey enjoys mentoring young lawyers and seeing them become successful and he considers among his top accomplishments becoming a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a recognition of excellence in trial advocacy by both plaintiff and defense trial attorneys. Pettey was one of several attorneys who were nominated for the Power List by attorneys they frequently litigate against. Here’s how one plaintiffs’ attorney described Pettey:
Monnett has served on the Governor’s Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Council of North Carolina and on the Board of Directors of the Brain Injury Association. He currently holds seats on the boards of both the American Association for Justice and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.
“Having had multiple cases against Rod over the last 25 years, I have found him to have exceptional trial and advocacy skills. His ability to effectively question and depose witnesses is as good as it gets. He has a great balance of tact and assertiveness. He handles extremely complex cases and is often asked by insurance companies to jump into cases to get them resolved or clean up messes that have been made by others. Rod is also exceptionally professional. He’s true to his word. He plays by the rules and doesn’t play games with opposing counsel. He conducts himself professionally and he’s courteous to all of those he encounters. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give Rod is that if I was ever sued, I’d want him to defend me.”
He enjoys trial work and appreciates the opportunity to use his skills and experience to help others. For Monnett, it is especially rewarding when his clients stay in touch with him over the years. “I find that is a really satisfying feeling to have a client that I represented 10 or 15 years ago contact me and say they’re doing well in terms of meeting their own needs, keeping a roof over their head and food on their table, and that they are able to pay for the ongoing medical care they need,” Monnett said.
LAWYERS MUTUAL
Take your events online With many of your clients and prospects working from home, now is a great time to engage them through a webinar. Hosting a webinar is a powerful way to connect with your target audience, and with North Carolina Lawyers Weekly - you won’t have to worry about any of the logistics. Whether you’re looking to move an in-person event online, or just need to generate quality sales leads, our team can help provide turnkey service from marketing to execution! What is included in your webinar: • 45-60 minute webinar • Dedicated project support • Email marketing • Social media • Print ad
For more information, please contact Andrea Mounts at 704.817.1346 or amounts@mecktimes.com.
BRIAN KING, KING LAW, MURAL: RUTHERFORDTON, RUTHERFORDTON, NC
RUTHERFORDTON. RALEIGH. ROANOKE RAPIDS. Our state has many wonderful places, and murals help tell their story. Lawyers Mutual has helped tell the story for North Carolina lawyers since 1977. It’s the story of people who care and a mission to help. THE STORY OF PROTECTION THAT COUNTS.
919.677.8900 800.662.8843
www.lawyersmutualnc.com
LIABILITY IN COMPANY NORTH CA
THE POWER L I S T
THE POWER L I S T
JOEL RHINE
ALLEN C. SMITH
FOUNDING PARTNER, RHINE LAW FIRM WILMINGTON
PARTNER, HEDRICK GARDNER CHARLOTTE Joel Rhine has decades of experience representing clients in complex litigation, including catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases, trucking accidents, construction defect and products liability cases, class actions, and mass torts.
Allen C. Smith, a partner in Hedrick Gardner’s Charlotte office, has tried over 100 cases before juries and has participated in over 1,000 depositions in his career. At Hedrick Gardner, Smith chairs the trucking and transportation practice group and co-chairs the civil litigation practice group. He devotes most of his time to defending serious personal injury and wrongful death claims associated with truck accidents and motor vehicle negligence. He also defends products liability, construction defect, and premises liability claims.
At the age of 30, Rhine was part of a two-man team that obtained an eight-figure verdict in federal court—the largest verdict in New Hanover County history at the time. He also earned a national reputation in EIFS (synthetic stucco) litigation, filing the first EIFS case and obtaining the first multimillion dollar verdict against a manufacturer. After this verdict, cases began settling across the nation, giving thousands of homeowners money to repair their homes.
Rather than choose a career in law, Smith believes the career chose him. “I went to law school because I liked the idea of problem solving and being the member of a profession,” he said. “While in law school, I enjoyed trial advocacy.”
“We hire the experts we need, and we spend as much time as we need to deliver the best work product we can deliver,” Rhine said. “This is not the most profitable way to work, but it’s fulfilling to know we give our best effort rather than just make money.”
Allen counts among his most significant cases his service as lead counsel in a rear-end collision between a defendant who was operating a pickup truck pulling a trailer and plaintiffs who had been in a Jeep that was stopped in traffic. Two of the plaintiffs, a father and daughter, claimed post-concussive syndrome, and the wife pursued a claim for loss of consortium. The defendant driver and employer admitted negligence but denied causation between the accident and alleged injuries. The plaintiffs asked the jury for an award in excess of $500,000. The jury ruled in favor of the defendants by determining that the plaintiffs weren’t injured by the defendant’s negligence.
Among Rhine’s recent results are obtaining the largest settlement, $24 million, in the Chinese drywall litigation in New Orleans, a multimillion-dollar award to three plaintiffs injured in the FIU Pedestrian Bridge collapse, and a $750,000 jury award in Brunswick County right before the COVID-19 pandemic. Rhine also obtained a $9 million verdict following a multiple-fatality parasailing accident off Brunswick County beaches, a $3.1 million recovery in a bus collision case in Virginia, and a $2 million recovery in a trucking case in New Hanover County.
In another case, Smith obtained summary judgment for a national retailer in a slip-and-fall case by proving to the court that the plaintiff couldn’t establish the existence of a dangerous condition.
His current caseload includes representing sexual abuse victims against the New Hanover County Board of Education. One of these cases involves a science teacher who pleaded guilty to 59 counts of sexual abuse after preying upon young male students for more than 20 years. Rhine is also working on a wrongful death case filed for the estate of a man who was savagely beaten to death in his adult care facility by a known violent resident. The case is expected to include a battle over the broad immunity granted to heath care providers since the beginning of the pandemic.
In addition to obtaining successful outcome for his clients, Allen considers as a professional accomplishment the ability to develop long-term relationships with some of his clients and earn their confidence to take on challenging cases. His careful attention detail and ownership of his work product are characteristics he believes make him a successful attorney. “If my name goes on something such as a brief, evaluation, or discovery response, I want the product to be well written and accurate,” Smith said. “My nit-picking may drive some of my associates crazy, but if I am going to trial, the other side is going to get my best shot.”
“We treat our work as a profession, not a business,” Rhine said. “We overwork our cases, regardless of the amount in controversy. We work on a contingency fee basis and advance costs, so we don’t have pressure to hold back because of billing. This gives us the freedom to handle our cases in a manner that has been successful.”
KENNETH B. ROTENSTREICH
WYATT S. STEVENS
PARTNER, TEAGUE ROTENSTREICH STANALAND FOX & HO GREENSBORO
PARTNER, ROBERTS & STEVENS ATTORNEYS AT LAW ASHEVILLE
Kenneth Rotenstreich has been practicing insurance defense litigation since 1987. A partner in the Greensboro firm of Teague Rotenstreich Stanaland Fox & Holt, Rotenstreich has built a successful practice in a career that has seen him take hundreds of cases to jury trials in both state and federal courts.
Wyatt Stevens, a partner with Roberts & Stevens of Asheville, has more than 25 years of experience in complex personal injury litigation and commercial litigation, representing individuals, businesses, and organizations in state and federal courts throughout western North Carolina, in complex jury trials, administrative hearings, and appeals.
The law firm takes an average of 50 or more cases a year to trial and has a dozen attorneys focused in a variety of practice areas, including insurance defense litigation, personal injury litigation, employment law, commercial litigation, coverage disputes, workers’ compensation, estates, and medical malpractice. Among his many recognitions, Rotenstreich was named as an advocate member of the American Board of Trial Advocates in 2014.
Beyond his work in personal injury defense, Stevens’ practice is widely varied, and his clients include companies and individuals engaged in the recreational sports industry, manufacturing, insurance, telecommunications, trucking, and tourism industries. As a member of the Association of Ski Defense Attorneys, he regularly defends and advises the state’s ski resorts in personal injury cases. In 2020, Stevens was the recipient of the Buncombe County Bar’s Professionalism Award.
Rotenstreich, who is passionate about being in the courtroom, says he was never drawn to criminal law and gravitated to the area of civil practice. From there, his personal injury defense practice fell into place.
Among Stevens’ notable accomplishments, several stand out.
“As my assignments piled up and the trials began, I found a passion for defending claims of personal injury where proximate cause and damages were at issue,” Rotenstreich said. “Once I learned the medicine, the passion grew and I stuck with the career and never looked back.”
In a trial in 2014, Stevens represented a North Carolina State Trooper who had been sued for compensatory and punitive damages after he was involved in fatal car crash. A Guilford County jury returned a verdict holding the trooper not liable and finding that he had been chasing another motorist at the time of the crash. The verdict was later upheld on appeal in the North Carolina Court of Appeals’ 2016 ruling in Allmond v. Goodnight.
Rotenstreich has also argued precedent-setting cases at the appellate level. In one such case, he successfully argued before the North Carolina Supreme Court on behalf of a father who had been sued for negligent entrustment after his son was involved in fatal car accident, with the court ultimately overturning a ruling by the state’s Court of Appeals.
In another case, Stevens successfully defended a ski resort that had been sued by a skier who’d been injured on the slopes. That verdict was also appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment in its 2012 ruling in Haltiwanger v. Phoenix Ski Corp., holding that the plaintiff had failed to establish the presence of a hidden or dangerous condition.
Over the course of his career, Rotenstreich estimates that he has tried close to 500 cases in more than 50 counties of North Carolina and counts creating and maintaining his law partnership for over 30 years among his top accomplishments. He is also proud of the opportunities to train and mentor young lawyers, including his newest partner—his son, Josh.
Stevens also served as local counsel with the law firm Jones Day in obtaining a defense verdict in a products liability case in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in Kimberly S. Sisk v. Abbott Laboratories in 2014. The plaintiff had sought compensatory damages of more than $50 million in negligence claims for defective manufacture, design, and labeling and punitive damages involving powdered infant formula.
“I am motivated to be the best at what I do while and the same time being respectful to the system,” Rotenstreich said.
14B | THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY
AUGUST 2021
Stevens said he chose his area of practice because he values working with other attorneys he admires. Asked for one characteristic that has led to his success as an attorney, he said “integrity.”
AUGUST 2021
THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY | 15B
THE POWER L I S T
THE POWER L I S T
MATTHEW S. SULLIVAN
ISAAC THORP
ATTORNEY, WHITE & ALLEN KINSTON
MANAGING ATTORNEY, THORP LAW FIRM CARY Matthew Sullivan believes the ability to practice law is a privilege. As an attorney at White & Allen of Kinston, Sullivan’s practice is concentrated in the areas of catastrophic personal injury, tractor-trailer accidents, industrial accidents, wrongful death, products liability and product failures, workers’ compensation, commercial, and general civil litigation.
Isaac Thorp has more than 30 years of experience representing clients who have been seriously injured. He founded Thorp Law in 2013 to provide high-powered legal assistance to people whose lives have been changed by an injury, death, or property confiscation.
“I consider it a privilege to help people,” Sullivan said. “Regardless of whether you do business law, criminal law, or personal injury law, we are all privileged to help people every day.”
“As a plaintiffs’ attorney, I get to help people walk thought perhaps one of the worst times of their lives,” Thorp said. “An injury has turned their lives upside down in a matter of seconds, and suddenly their lives are about hospitals, medical bills, and coping with pain.”
Active in the legal profession, Sullivan is a past president of the Lenoir County Bar Association and has served on the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.
Not long after starting Thorp Law, he represented a client who had been hit by a forklift driver and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury as a result.
He considers is work in the West Pharmaceutical Plant explosion in Kinston to be one of his top professional accomplishments. In 2003 an explosion and fire destroyed the West Pharmaceutical Services plant, causing six deaths, dozens of injuries, and hundreds of job losses. The facility produced rubber stoppers and other products for medical use. The fuel for the explosion was a fine plastic powder, which accumulated above a suspended ceiling over a manufacturing area at the plant and ignited.
“After my client recovered, the extent of his injury wasn’t obvious to the casual observer,” Thorp said. “He could carry on a conversation, for the most part recognized people he knew, and had a pretty good long-term memory.” After visiting his client on several different occasions, talking with him and his wife at their kitchen table, Thorp learned he love to build things. “I learned that before my client was injured, he could calculate in his head how many board-feet of lumber he needed to build an addition to his house. He could do those calculations in just a few minutes,” Thorp said. “And he was proud of that.”
“Our efforts to help 30 families and individuals were particularly rewarding, both as a lawyer and as a member of the local community,” Sullivan said. “I still see and interact with many of the individuals and families today.” Sullivan believes his sincerity has led to his success as an attorney, and he says he always tries to be candid and sincere with clients from the beginning.
After Thorp’s client was injured, he spent hours trying to do the same calculations. He had pages of notes, but he still couldn’t figure them out. He struggled for months before he finally accepted the fact that there were some things he could no longer do.
“I try to relay both the good and the bad about each case I handle,” Sullivan said. “I feel as though sincerity educates my clients. It helps temper an already stressful situation, and it helps manage expectations in most instances.”
“It was only by really getting to know him and his family that I could begin to understand how completely his life had been turned upside down, and I felt confident we could get the jury to understand as well,” Thorp said.
Sullivan reaps rewards from his practice through his service to those who don’t have the resources or ability to help themselves.
Shortly before the trial was scheduled to begin, the defendants made an offer that would provide Thorp’s client with the care he needed for the rest of his life.
“More often than not, their lives have been completely altered through no fault of their own,” he said. “Other than my family, my work is the most rewarding experience of my life.”
“He felt like justice had been done,” Thorp said. “And I felt like I made a difference in his life.”
HOYT TESSENER
KARONNIE TRUZY
SHAREHOLDER, JAMES SCOTT FARRIN RALEIGH
PARTNER AND CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER, CRUMLEY ROBERTS GREENSBORO Hoyt Tessener enjoys taking on tough cases. He joined James Scott Farrin in 2017 and is a shareholder in the firm. He has tried over 100 cases in state and federal courts in North Carolina and has earned multiple verdict awards of $1,000,000 or more.
Karonnie Truzy is living his dream as a partner and chief diversity officer with Crumley Roberts of Greensboro. He concentrates his practice on handling complex injury cases, claims under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act, commercial motor vehicle cases, and wrongful death claims throughout North Carolina in state and federal courts.
In June 2019, Tessener and his colleague, Coleman Cowan, represented a plaintiff who suffered multiple broken bones after a head-on collision in Hoke County in May 2015. In June 2019, Tessener and Cowan went to trial and prevailed. After only 55 minutes of deliberation, the jury reached a final verdict of $2.1 million, a record-breaking verdict in Hoke County.
One accomplishment he is especially proud of is the opportunity to work in the litigation practice area and try cases. “That was my dream going into law school,” Truzy said. Among his notable accomplishments, he cited two that stand out:
Tessener and Cowan are currently representing Ronnie Long in a civil suit after he was released from prison after serving over 44 years on rape charges. In September 2020, a federal appeals court overturned his conviction, citing an improper investigation and trial. The exoneration effort in federal court was led by Jamie Lau of the Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic, and last December, Gov. Roy Cooper pardoned Long. The civil suit seeks accountability, answers, and monetary damages from the City of Concord and officers and officials working with the Concord Police Department.
The Estate of La’Reko Williams v. Michael Forbes and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department was a Section 1983 case against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Williams died from cardiac arrest after being stopped by a police officer who applied his Taser to Williams. It was the first verdict for damages against the CMPD in over 30 years for excessive force. The Estate of Kenneth Jefferson v. Allen Lund Company, Inc., and E.C Trucking, LLC involved a tractor-trailer accident on Interstate 40 in Greensboro involving a driver who was driving beyond his limit of service hours and crashed into eight motorcyclists, killing two of them. Crumley Roberts represented Jefferson’s family following his death. This action also brought in an Allen Lund Company broker for tractor-trailer drivers who failed to qualify their drivers before dispatching loads. The case resulted in a resolution with all defendants including the brokerage company and confirmed law allowing liability for commercial brokers in North Carolina.
Tessener grew up in Shelby, a town known for textile manufacturing. He became the first in his family to graduate from college when he enrolled at N.C. State University and earned a degree in textiles. As the industry declined, Tessener followed a new path, and entered Campbell University School of Law. For Tessener, earning respect from his peers is one of his top professional accomplishments. He also enjoys opportunities to help train and mentor young lawyers, and today, he celebrates almost two decades as an adjunct professor at Campbell, where he teaches jury selection. He also serves on the Campbell University Board of Visitors.
Truzy says he is drawn to his law practice because he enjoys helping people. “We work on a variety of cases from 1983 cases to wrongful death cases, and we just finished a tanker explosion case that caused a man to become a paraplegic,” Truzy said. “I am able to try these cases for people who need our help.”
Tessener says he chose the personal injury area of law because he enjoys helping others. “Personal injury law allows me to help people when they need help the most,” Tessener said. “I find personal injury to be personally satisfying and professionally stimulating.”
In addition to drawing inspiration from his clients, Truzy often thinks about a book he received from a teacher when he was in the sixth grade.
He sums up the characteristic that makes him a successful attorney in one word—“passion.”
16B | THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY
AUGUST 2021
“That book was To Kill a Mockingbird, and I remember writing a report about it,” he said. “I came to idolize the main character, Atticus Finch, and he is one of my biggest role models.”
AUGUST 2021
THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY | 17B
THE POWER L I S T
THE POWER L I S T
MONA LISA WALLACE
ROBERT E. ZAYTOUN
PARTNER, WALLACE & GRAHAM SALISBURY
MANAGING PARTNER, ZAYTOUN BALLEW & TAYLOR RALEIGH Mona Lisa Wallace was one of the first asbestos trial lawyers in the Southeast and has handled significant personal injury cases for over 40 years. With partners Bill Graham and Whitney Wallace Williams, her firm, Wallace & Graham of Salisbury, has assisted thousands of individuals and families who suffer from both accident and occupationally related injuries and illnesses. Her firm has been involved in obtaining some of the largest recorded verdicts in the state.
Robert Zaytoun began his legal career in 1976 in Tampa before returning to his home state to accept a position as assistant district attorney. He entered private practice in 1982, and his practice evolved into one that represents individuals who have been harmed by negligence or wrongdoing. “I like fighting for the underdog,” Zaytoun said. “As a plaintiffs’ attorney, you usually are confronting corporations backed by huge insurance companies with lawyers from large firms, well-funded and usually formidable adversaries.”
From approximately 1980 through 1992, Wallace was in court almost daily trying cases including civil personal injury. At the same time, she began handling occupational disease cases as that area of the law evolved. She tried one of the first asbestos cases in the Southeast and tried over 80 asbestos claims back-to-back involving a paper mill.
Zaytoun’s credits his father, a U.S. Marine in World War II who died last summer at the age of 100, with influencing his life and career. “My father told me that no matter the odds, his cause was for the common good of the country he loved, and he always said: ‘Keep your head down, prepare for your adversaries’ best, and never give up.’ He was my all-time hero and role model.”
Most recently, Wallace & Graham concluded its eight-year journey in North Carolina’s swine farm nuisance litigation. Wallace represented hundreds of rural families suffering from flies, odor, pollutants, and other effects caused by industrialized factory farms. Her team won verdicts of more than $549 million. The verdict in the third trial, in which the jury awarded $473.5 million to six plaintiffs, is said to be the largest in North Carolina history. Smithfield announced the settlement of the litigation in November 2020. Mona and her team won the Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year for their work in that case in 2020.
In recent years, Zaytoun has become active in litigating excessive force cases. He helped win a $650,000 jury verdict against the North Carolina State Highway Patrol for discriminating against a female cadet during the basic training school and an $8.325 million verdict in federal court against the Wake County Sheriff’s Department for shooting a young tree trimmer on his own property, and secure a settlement for $6 million in policy limits in a case against the Harnett County Sheriff’s Department for shooting and killing a man on the porch of his mobile home where there were three deputies without a search or arrest warrant.
Wallace & Graham also worked with co-counsel to obtain what is believed to be the largest wrongful death verdict in North Carolina history—$32.7 million in compensatory damages, affirmed by the Fourth Circuit in Finch v. Covil Corp.
“In the Harnett County case, the lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of the decedent’s estate and five other individuals who had similarly been victimized by the same sheriff’s deputies,” Zaytoun said. “These cases involved victims who were downtrodden by law enforcement and were powerless to seek justice without the civil justice system.”
“I believe my greatest accomplishment is the work my firm has done on improving the working conditions for employees in industrial facilities,” Wallace said. “The court decisions and awards the firm has achieved have dramatically improved workplace safety and working conditions of thousands of individuals. By drawing attention to early screening and medical monitoring for the detection of cancers, the firm’s work has helped workers get diagnostic treatment that has saved many lives.”
Zaytoun said he’s fortunate to have been successful in difficult cases with his talented law firm professionals supporting him. Being a plaintiffs’ lawyer is not for the faint of heart, he said, but the rewards are worth it.
Mona and her husband, Lee, are also community philanthropists, supporting several institutions including the Wallace Cancer Center and the Wallace Educational Forum in Salisbury.
“Being a plaintiffs’ lawyer has the ability to provide a life of social purpose that few jobs can.”
JANET WARD BLACK
Start your research with North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.
PRINCIPAL OWNER, WARD BLACK LAW GREENSBORO Janet Ward Black, principal owner of Ward Black Law of Greensboro, has had a long career representing people injured at work, in accidents, and by dangerous products and hazards. Her firm is one of the largest woman-owned firms in North Carolina. Black served as the third female president of the North Carolina Association of Trial Lawyers and the fourth female president of the North Carolina Bar Association. As president of the NCBA, she created 4ALL Statewide Service Day, a telephone call-in day during which volunteer attorneys provide free legal advice. Since its inception in 2008, the program has served over 100,000 people and is a model in the United States and Canada for providing free legal advice to those who can’t afford to pay for it. In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 437 volunteer attorneys, legal students, and paralegals fielded 9,712 calls over an 8-hour period. Black says the program has raised over $3 million benefiting Legal Aid of North Carolina through donations to the N.C. Bar Foundation endowment. Black says she enjoys her work because it allows her to use her voice to help people, especially those who have been injured, and over the years, her firm has represented many clients, including the settlement of over 600 employees’ claims for breathing injury against their North Carolina employer in 2019. She currently is representing several North Carolina counties against opioid manufacturers and distributors. “Plaintiff’s lawyers can help level the playing field between a regular person and a large corporation,” Black said. “Without lawyers to do that, the regular people rarely stand a chance. With us, they do.”
Stay Current– Subscribe Today! Put your client’s best interests first. Be the most prepared you can be. Subscribe to Lawyers Weekly now and get the news and information you need to win.
52 Weekly Newspapers 4 Unlimited Online Access 4 Latest Opinions 4 Judicial Profiles
4 Searchable Verdicts & Settlements Database 4 Digital Edition of the Newspaper
Black considers the Ward Black Law tithing program to be her firm’s most significant accomplishment.
Don’t miss another issue of the news and analysis that affects you and your clients.
“We tithe 10 percent of our gross revenue to non-profits, and we do so anonymously,” she said. “We’ve been giving away that ‘dime on a dollar’ for the past eight years and have seen some miraculous things happen and have become friends with many non-profit leaders who are changing our community and the world.” Black sums up the secret to her success in a simple statement: “I love what I do.”
18B | THE POWER LIST: PERSONAL INJURY
subscribe.nclawyersweekly.com/H2ZSUB 1-800-451-9998 (Promo Code: H2ZSUB)
Read us online:
AUGUST 2021
Explore our archives of stories and case digests to find that decision you remember. Get copies of the full-text opinions you need. Research verdicts and settlements to compare what your case is worth or to see what experts have been used. It’s all part of your subscription. Explore our online resources today! nclawyersweekly.com/subscribe