Crabtree Carpenter, PLLC Recognized by US News and World Report

Charles F. Carpenter and Guy W. Crabtree

Durham law firm Crabtree Carpenter, PLLC is honored by the recent firm recognition our lawyers have received from our peers and the business community. 

Crabtree Carpenter has been named as a Best Law Firms in North Carolina First-Tier by US News and World Report.

Crabtree Carpenter, PLLC provides innovative and effective legal representation to injured individuals as trial lawyers in personal injury and wrongful death cases involving automobile accidents and medical malpractice. They are also trial lawyers who represent families and provide legal expertise to individuals and companies in commercial and business disputes.

Crabtree Carpenter, PLLC Announce Recognitions

Charles F. Carpenter

Durham law firm Crabtree Carpenter, PLLC is honored by the recent recognition our lawyers have received from our peers and the business community. 

Charles F. Carpenter was recently selected for inclusion on the 2020 North Carolina Super Lawyers list for Business Litigation.

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.  The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.  

In addition, Charles F. Carpenter and Guy W. Crabtree both were again rated AV Preeminent from Martindale-Hubbell. An AV Preeminent Rating is the highest rating available from Martindale-Hubbell, the leading independent attorney rating organization and such a rating signifies that the lawyer has reached the heights of professional excellence, and is recognized for the highest levels of legal ability and integrity. 

Governor Cooper names Carpenter to U.S.S. North Carolina Battleship Commission

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has appointed Durham Attorney Charles Carpenter to serve as an at-large member of the U.S.S. North Carolina Battleship Commission. Carpenter, a North Carolina native, is a Partner in the Durham firm of Crabtree, Carpenter & Connolly, PLLC.

The Battleship Commission was established in 1960 by the General Statutes of the State of North Carolina to provide an organization whose charter is to oversee the administration and operation of the Battleship as a permanent memorial and exhibit dedicated to the State’s World War II veterans.

Charles F. Carpenter

Carpenter will serve a four year term as an at-large member of the Battleship Commission. The Battleship Commission consists of eighteen members, including the Secretary of Cultural Resources and the Secretary of Commerce, who serve as voting ex-officio members, along with sixteen at-large members selected by the Governor. 

“I grew up with a love for the Battleship. One of my earliest memories is visiting the ship with my family when I was a little kid. I am extremely honored to have the opportunity to serve on the Commission,” said Carpenter. “I am proud to be able to serve my State, and to help carry on the work the Battleship Commission does to ensure that the ship is properly maintained and preserved. The ship provides an opportunity to the public to learn about an important time in our history, and about the sacrifice made by those brave men and women who served our nation during the war.” 

Carpenter holds an undergraduate degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law. He has practiced law in Durham for thirty-five years.

You Should Know: Keeping Back-To-School Teen Drivers Safe

Road Safety Tips for Teen Drivers
Heading Back to School

Labor Day weekend is over and summer is in the rearview mirror. New backpacks are crammed full of the tools of learning: laptops, books, pens, pencils, notebooks and more. But what about the tools young drivers need to stay safe on the road? These tips can help the teen drivers in your life get from home to homeroom in one piece.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens. It is estimated that on average, six teenagers die every day in the United States from a car crash. As teens head back to school, you should know how to keep them, and others, safe.

The Stats

Teens who text and drive are outside of their lane  about 10 percent of the time.

A teen driver on the road is more likely to cause a car crash than any other driver. Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are nearly three times more likely than drivers aged 20 and older to be in a fatal crash. Young men are two times more likely to get in a crash than young women.

If your teen driver has recently received his or her license, inexperience can spell disaster out on the road. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, teen drivers ages 16 to 17 are twice as likely to get in a car crash compared to teen drivers ages 18 to 19. 

Teens are also less likely to practice safe driving behavior, such as using seat belts or maintaining a safe following distance. In 2015, only 61 percent of high school students reported they always wear seat belts when riding with someone else. [Download report.]

The Risks

Teens are also much more likely to drive distracted. Drivers under the age of 20 have the highest proportion of distraction-related crashes, and 42 percent of teens admit to texting while driving. Carpooling seems like a convenient way to get to school, but teens riding with other teen drivers increase the risk of distraction with every additional teen passenger. Here are all eight of the CDC danger zones most often linked to teen crashes:

1. Driver Inexperience
2. Driving with Teen Passengers
3. Nighttime Driving
4. Not Using Seat Belts
5. Distracted Driving
6. Drowsy Driving
7. Reckless Driving
8. Impaired Driving

The Parents

So, what can parents do to prevent teen driving tragedies?

• Most important, lead by example. Forty-eight percent of young drivers have seen their parents talking on a cell phone while driving, and 15 percent of those have seen their parents texting while driving. Show your kids how to drive responsibly by driving distraction free, wearing your seatbelt and following all speed limits and traffic laws.
• Set limits. Multiple teen passengers and late-night driving lead to more crashes. Limit the number of passengers for your teen drivers and set a curfew.
• Buy a safe car. The car your teen drives should be reliable. Purchase from a reputable dealer, and check all cars at Safercar.gov for recalls. Make sure your young driver knows what to do if a car breaks down.
• Practice driving with your teen. Provide your teen driver with 30 to 50 hours of supervised driving practice over at least six months. Practice on a variety of roads, at different times of day, and in varied weather and traffic conditions. Stress the importance of continually scanning for potential hazards including other vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians.
• Create a Parent-Teen driving agreement. Put your driving rules in writing to clearly set limits, as well as the consequences for not following those rules.

This article appeared in our September 2017 "You Should Know" e-newsletter.

Crabtree, Carpenter & Connolly Announce Recognition

Guy W. Crabtree

Crabtree, Carpenter & Connolly is pleased to announce the recent recognition firm partner Guy W. Crabtree has received from our peers and the business community. 

Mr. Crabtree was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2018 in the field of Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs. Mr. Crabtree has been included in Best Lawyers each year since 2005. 

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. For the 2017 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America, 7.3 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in almost 55,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition. 

Crabtree, Carpenter & Connolly, PLLC provides innovative and effective legal representation to injured individuals as trial lawyers in personal injury and wrongful death cases involving automobile accidents and medical malpractice. They are also trial lawyers who represent families and provide legal expertise to individuals and companies in commercial and business disputes, and to property owners whose property has been contaminated by toxic chemicals in their groundwater.  

You Should Know: Praising the Organizations That Make a Difference

These Justice Organizations Lead the Fight to Protect the Safety, Rights of All Americans

Every year for the Justice Served Awards issue, we celebrate injured people and their families who have stepped up to make America a safer, more just nation. This year, we’re shining a bright light on the organizations that tirelessly support and advocate for all Americans.

Center for Justice and Democracy

Located at New York Law School, the Center for Justice & Democracy is the only national consumer organization in the country exclusively dedicated to protecting the civil justice system. It investigates and exposes attacks on judges, juries, injured consumers and attorneys by powerful corporations and special interests. The Center also raises public awareness and support for the civil justice system and combats the dangerous campaign behind the so-called “tort reform” movement. The Center believes that “America’s civil justice system is one of the only places left in America where individual citizens can successfully challenge powerful industries and institutions and hold them accountable.”

Public Citizen

Founded in 1971 and based in Washington, D.C., Public Citizen “serves as the people’s voice in the nation’s capital.” The organization champions citizens’ interests before Congress, the executive branch agencies and the courts. Through its five policy groups – Congress Watch, the Energy Program, Global Trade Watch, the Health Research Group and the Litigation Group – Public Citizen fights to make sure government works for the American people and not corporate power.

Consumers Union

Consumers Union is the policy and action division of Consumer Reports magazine. It works with its activists and alongside subscriber input to pass consumer protection laws in states and in Congress. It holds dangerous and unsafe corporations accountable and celebrates those who put their consumers first. Consumers Union has helped pass consumer protection laws for healthcare, financial services, the food and agriculture industry, clean energy, the auto industry and more.

Consumer Federation of America

The Consumer Federation of America is an association of nonprofit consumer organizations that was established in 1968 to advance the consumer interest through research, advocacy and education. Nearly 300 diverse state and national advocacy groups participate in the federation and govern it through their representatives on the organization’s Board of Directors.

Workplace Fairness

Workplace Fairness is a nonprofit organization working to preserve and promote employee rights. It believes that fair treatment of workers is sound public policy and good business practice. Workplace Fairness also supports and creates comprehensive, unbiased information about workers’ rights in order to empower employees everywhere. With this information, Workplace Fairness educates workers and organizations and advocates for fairness through awareness and public policy.

ProPublica

Founded by Paul Steiger, former managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, ProPublica is an independent nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. These investigations shine a light on exploitation and work to create positive change. ProPublica is nonpartisan organization that works to adhere to strict standards of journalistic impartiality. It does not ally with any politicians or advocacy groups in order to provide an unbiased look at businesses, government, unions, education systems, healthcare organizations and the media.

The Leapfrog Group

The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality and safety of American health care. Its Leapfrog Hospital Survey program collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.

Safe Kids Worldwide

Safe Kids Worldwide is a global organization dedicated to protecting kids from unintentional injuries, the number one cause of death to children in the United States. Safe Kids does this through research reports, education and awareness programs and safety focused public policy. Since 1988, the work of Safe Kids has helped reduce the U.S. childhood death rate from unintentional injury by 60 percent.

This article appeared in our August 2017 "You Should Know" e-newsletter.