North Carolina Personal Injury Cases & Accident Info

North Carolina statutes online

This is where you’ll find North Carolina's general statutes. The website has details about how long you have to bring a case, monetary limits on personal injury cases (which are also known as damage caps), and other important information.

North Carolina General Statutes

To read:

• Do I have a legal case after my accident?
• What is personal injury law?
• What are damage caps?

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North Carolina's car accident statutes of limitation

In North Carolina, you have three years to bring both a personal injury and a property damage claim. That means you have three years to file your paperwork with the court, not that your case has to be completed in that time frame.

North Carolina's Statute of Limitations

To read:

• What is the statute of limitations?
• The claims process and how long a personal injury lawsuit takes

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Hiring the right North Carolina lawyer

The first meeting with a personal injury attorney is normally free of charge. (Note that other legal specialties, such as traffic law or white collar crime law, are different.) After that, lawyers work on a contingency basis, which means that they will take a third of the eventual reward, plus whatever office expenses they incur along the way.

If your case goes to trial, that percentage could rise to 40% of the eventual reward or judgment. These numbers aren't determined by law, so don't be surprised if your lawyer suggests something else.

Find a lawyer in North Carolina

Want to hire a lawyer and need some help? Check out some of our best articles:

• Choosing a personal injury attorney – interview questions
• Why might a personal injury lawyer deny my case?
• Preparing to meet with a personal injury attorney
• Negotiating lawyers fees - how do accident lawyers charge? Are there any hidden costs?
• When do you NOT need an attorney after an accident?
• Jurisdiction: Accidents that involve multiple states

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Cases of interest in North Carolina

These are some cases of legal importance that came out of North Carolina's courts:

• Packingham v. North Carolina, 582 U.S. ____ (2017): North Carolina instituted a law that made it an offense for any registered sex offender to use a social media site that minors also used. The Supreme Court considered this a violation of free speech, as sex offenders on probation had served their time. These websites were irreplaceable in the dot-com era and needed to be used, and as such, Packingham brought his case to the Supreme Court.


• The State v. John Mann, 13 N.C. 263 (1829): After a slaveowner, John Mann, gravely wounded his slave, Lydia, in an escape attempt, he was charged with assault and battery, as his response was deemed disproportionate to her actions. This judicial opinion is considered notorious because the judge, Thomas Ruffin, was personally uncomfortable with Mann's actions, but concluded that “the power of the master must be absolute, to render the submission of the slave perfect.”


• J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 564 U.S. 261 (2011): Age is relevant when determining custody for Miranda purposes. J.D.B. was a special education student that police suspected of committing two robberies. A police investigator showed up at his school and interrogated him, during which time he was questioned by both the investigator and school officials. He was not given Miranda warnings either then or later on; he was also not given a chance to contact his legal guardian. The Supreme Court said that his age should have been considered when he was being interrogated, even though the police argued that he was not in "police custody."

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Data and statistics

Here is some intriguing data about North Carolina:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Statistics
• Center for Health Statistics: Data
• InfoPlease: Statistics
• U.S. Census: Data

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North Carolina law libraries

There are many issues you can solve without the help of an attorney. If you don't know where to start, a law librarian can help you. They are usually legally trained, and they can help you both with texts or online research engines like LexisNexis or Westlaw.

• University of North Carolina Law School: Kathrine R. Everett Law Library
• Duke Law Library & Technology
• Elon Law Library
• Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law Library
• Wake Forest University School of Law Library
• North Carolina Legislative Library

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