Practice Areas: Workers' Compensation, Personal Injury, Civil Litigation
Licensed in North Carolina since: 2003
Education: Duke University School of Law
Riddle & Brantley
601 N Spence AveGoldsboro, NC 27534 Phone: 919-205-9327 Email: Adam Smith Visit website
Details
Adam Smith represents clients throughout the state who have suffered serious personal injuries in workplace accidents or due to the negligence of others in matters involving motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice and products liability. He has been certified as a specialist in workers compensation law by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization and has received an AV Preeminent* peer-review rating through Martindale-Hubbell.
Mr. Smith completed his undergraduate studies at Duke University, graduating cum laude in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He then went on to attend Duke University School of Law and was awarded his Juris Doctor in 2003. While in law school, Mr. Smith was a member of the editorial board of the Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy. Admitted to practice in North Carolina, Mr. Smith is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of North Carolina and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
A frequent guest lecturer and speaker at seminars and continuing education courses, Mr. Smith has given presentations before a variety of professional groups on such topics as the admissibility of evidence in personal injury litigation and the use of expert witnesses. He is a member of the 10th District Judicial Bar and the Wake County Bar Association. Mr. Smith is also an active participant in North Carolina Advocates for Justice, and he has been elected vice chairman of the organization's Products Liability Section, having previously served as the membership chair of that section.
*AV Preeminent and BV Distinguished are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories: legal ability and general ethical standards.
First Admitted: 2003, North Carolina
Professional Webpage: https://www.justicecounts.com/our-attorneys/adam-smith/
- Membership Chair, North Carolina Advocates, Justice’s Product Liability section
- Vice Chairman, North Carolina Advocates, Justice’s Product Liability section
- North Carolina State Bar
- United States District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina
- United States District Court, Middle District of North Carolina
- Fourth Circuit, Court of Appeals
- NC Advocates for Justice
- Wake County Bar Association
- Tenth District Judicial Bar
- Board Certified by North Carolina State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization
- $1,500,000 Settlement | Wrongful Death — Auto Accident Represented by attorneys Adam Smith and Gene Riddle, our client died when a pickup truck tried to pass her sedan and caused a wreck. The defendants denied liability and claimed that our client's vehicle’s turn signal light did not work or she did not use it to signal a turn. We hired an accident re-constructionist to help us refute allegations that the vehicle’s turn signal was not functioning correctly, and also demonstrated that the defendant vehicle was traveling faster than his speedometer would have indicated because he had utilized after-market tires and a lift kit. Our client’s family was in dire financial need so we made demand for immediate mediation under the threat of filing a lawsuit. Despite the denial of liability by the insurance company we were able to secure a settlement less than 8 months after the collision. The first offer was only $500,000 but our persistence and our hard work on the accident reconstruction was vital to securing the $1,500,000 settlement for the family who was without any life insurance., 2024
- $1,500,000 Settlement | Motorcycle AccidentRepresented by attorney Adam Smith, our client suffered a concussion, laceration, and road rash in a collision when his motorcycle was struck by a vehicle driven by an out-of-state driver. Our client incurred approximately $30,000 in medical bills. The driver’s insurance company tendered their $100,000 limits and asked for a release of all claims. As with most of our cases, we don’t just settle right away or after the initial offers. We do our homework. We were able to locate a second insurance policy that covered a business owned by the at-fault driver. As expected, that insurance policy denied coverage. We filed suit. We promptly mediated the case and were able to resolve the claim for an additional payment of $400,000. , 2024
- $2,750,000 Settlement | Truck Accident Represented by attorneys Adam Smith and Gene Riddle, a 46-year-old male was severely injured by a tractor-trailer in a construction zone while working for his employer, a construction company. Defendant driver of tractor trailer ran off the road and struck the employee in the work zone. Our client suffered fractures in his ribs and 2 in his spine but lost his right leg just below the knee. His average weekly wage was approximately $650. The tractor-trailer company denied the claim, so a suit was filed. The workers' compensation carrier agreed at mediation to pay $2,000,000 plus all total disability wage losses from the date of the accident and all medical bills. The carrier also waived its lien, so no money was reimbursed to his workers' compensation carrier from the settlement with the truck company. After filing suit and some discovery the truck company, at mediation, agreed to pay its limits of $750,000 for a total recovery of $2,750,000., 2024
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- youtu.be/vw8C2oovh1Y
- Board Certified Specialist in Worker's Compensation Law by North Carolina State Bar
- W.B. McGuire scholarship
- Duke University, B.A. in Political Science., Honors: cum laude, Honors: Received the Garda scholarship, Honors: Inducted into the Pi Sigma Alpha honor society for achievement in political science, 2000
- Presenter, Bulletproofing Your Expert Witness from Daubert Attacks, N.C. Advocates for Justice
- Featured Speaker Before the Eastern NC Chapter of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants
- Author of "Evidence: Getting It In and Keeping It Out" for Trialbriefs Magazine
- Speaker Before North Carolina Advocates for Justice on Admissibility of Evidence in Civil Trials
- "Products Liability Claims, in Camouflage", TRIAL BRIEFS, North Carolina Advocates for Justice Publication, (June 2011)
- Editorial Board of the Journal of Gender Law & Policy, Duke University School of Law
- Frequent Speaker, Continuing Legal Education courses across North Carolina
- Speaker, Admissibility of Evidence in Personal Injury Lawsuits before the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers in Raleigh, North Carolina
- Presented at a seminar on Litigation Involving Battery Ingestion at the North Carolina Advocates for Justice's annual Mountain Magic convention in Asheville, 2013
- Guest Lecturer, Damages in Personal Injury Lawsuits, National Business Institute
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2019 - 2020, 2022 - 2025
- Rising Stars: 2015 - 2018
Certificates and credentials
Workers' Compensation Law