Gene Riddle

Riddle & Brantley, LLP

Gene Riddle Personal Injury Lawyer

Riddle & Brantley, LLP

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Firm Summary

Gene Riddle is a founding member of Riddle & Brantley, a law firm that employs 11 attorneys with more than 220+ years of combined legal experience. He is an experienced and award-winning trial attorney (see disclaimer below). Since 2000 alone, Gene’s firm has recovered over $700 million in total compensation for clients (see disclaimer below). Gene is quick to stress his family’s deep North Carolina ties. A Stanly County native, he grew up in Aberdeen after moving from Albemarle. He has practiced law in North Carolina since September 1985.

Gene’s parents were both educators. His father, a longtime superintendent of Moore County Schools, encouraged him to go to law school after college.

“My dad is probably the most honest person that was ever born,” Gene says. “Honest to a fault. He said we needed more honest lawyers, and I’d be a good one.”

Today, Gene believes honesty, integrity, and willingness to work hard are the bedrock principles of a good attorney. That is what he and the other lawyers at Riddle & Brantley provide to their injured clients. Gene spends much of his time reviewing cases as well as instructing and supervising attorneys and paralegals. However, he also continues to directly handle cases as the lead attorney and he touches most of the personal injury cases that come into the firm.

Gene is particularly proud of his firm’s pledge to respond to phone calls and e-mails after hours and on weekends. As a result, he monitors almost all inquiries received.

Gene takes on a wide range of cases throughout North Carolina, including car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, premises liability, product liability, dog bites, wrongful death, and workplace accidents. He also represents clients in cases involving dangerous drugs, defective medical devices, and defective consumer products. In every case, Gene’s objective is to obtain justice and maximum compensation for his clients.

In more than 35 years serving the people of North Carolina, Gene Riddle has personally represented thousands of clients, securing millions of dollars in compensation for damages suffered due to others’ negligence. Some of Gene’s most notable settlements and verdicts include:

• $9,450,000 | Truck Accident & Wrongful Death — Gene and another Riddle & Brantley attorney represented surviving loved ones after a family of four was tragically killed in a terrible tractor-trailer accident on a busy North Carolina highway. Riddle & Brantley launched a comprehensive accident investigation and proved liability on the part of a truck driver and a pavement marking company. We filed two lawsuits against the truck insurance company and pavement marketing company, ultimately securing $9.45 million in total compensation in separate pre-trial settlements.
• $5,000,000 | Constitutional Rights Violation — Gene Riddle represented five women who were sexually assaulted by a sheriff’s deputy while incarcerated in jail. Gene fought for justice, arguing that the deputy’s actions represented “cruel and unual punishment,” a violation of his clients’ constitutional rights. Lawsuits filed against the county and sheriff’s deputy were settled prior to trial. Attorney Riddle later represented victims in a separate federal lawsuit, ultimately securing $1.5 million in actual damages and $3.5 million in punitive damages, totaling $5 million in compensation for his clients. Attorney Thomas Loflin III assisted in the case.
• $2,750,000 | Truck Accident & Workers’ Compensation — Attorney Riddle partnered with Riddle & Brantley attorney Adam Smith to file separate personal injury and workers’ compensation claims after our client, a construction worker, was hit by a truck in a work zone and suffered devastating injuries, including the eventual loss of his right leg below the knee. We negotiated a settlement with the workers’ comp carrier representing policy limits, and filed a lawsuit against the truck insurance company after they denied liability. Ultimately, a settlement was negotiated prior to trial with total compensation for $2,750,000 for our deserving client.
• $1,900,000 | Pedestrian Accident — Gene Riddle and late partner Gene Jenkins represented a woman who was struck by a cement truck while crossing a parking lot on foot. She suffered multiple fractures and other injuries. Attorneys Riddle and Jenkins organized a thorough investigation, including analysis by an accident reconstructionist to prove liability. The case settled out of court for compensation totaling $1.9 million for our valued client.
• $1,500,000 | Personal Injury — Attorney Riddle fought for justice after our client suffered a disabling head injury when a tree limb cut by his employer fell on him. The employer did not have workers’ compensation so we filed a lawsuit, after which a judge awarded the injured victim $1.5 million in damages.

On his desk, Gene keeps a photo of 16-year-old girl, her parents’ only child. The girl died after a tractor-trailer hit her car in an intersection in Goldsboro. The initial investigation of the accident supported the truck driver’s version of the facts. He said he had a green light at the time of the accident. The girl’s devastated parents were not satisfied with the truck driver’s account, so they contacted North Carolina personal injury lawyer Gene Riddle. Our investigation revealed a different story.

Investigators tracked down eyewitnesses who contradicted the truck driver. Gene then hired accident reconstructionists whose forensic work showed that the truck driver had indeed run a red light. The trucking company’s insurers agreed with the new evidence and settled, paying the grieving parents $840,000 (see disclaimer below). Additionally, the truck driver faced charges for misdemeanor death by motor vehicle. He pled guilty and eventually lost his commercial driver’s license for a year.