Practice Areas

Thank you very much for selecting Wright, Worley, Pope, Ekster & Moss, PLLC to speak with you about you legal matter.  When you come to your local legal team, you are hiring a full service law firm that has been in existence since 1932 and has a long tradition of zealously representing its clients.  You are also getting over 166 years of combined legal experience.  Each member of the firm has the availability of the other members of the firm, which serves to enhance your representation.  We are “Your Local Legal Team - Where the tradition and experience of yesterday meets the insight of today”

When you hire a member of Wright, Worley, Pope, Ekster & Moss, PLLC, you get the benefit of hiring the entire firm.  From our lawyers to our dedicated and experience legal support staff, we are all here for you, our client.  You are able to get the most effective representative through our vast experience.  When different members of your local legal team are needed to work on your case, you can be assured that your local legal team will work for you.  By have different members of Wright, Worley, Pope, Ekster & Moss, PLLC involved in your case, you are getting the best representation possible, at a cost that is most effective to you, the client.  In certain types of case, we may associate outside firms who specialize in that area to be sure you get the best representation possible.

We currently practice law in the following areas:

  • Administrative Hearings
  • Appeals
  • Business and Estate Planning
  • Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney
    • Healthcare documents
    • Organization of corporations and LLC’s
  • Collection Work and Liens
  • Contracts
    • Preparation
    • Negotiation
    • Review
    • Litigation
  • Corporate Law and Business Litigation
  • Criminal Defense
    • Murder, Manslaughter, and Capital Defense
    • DWI
    • Driver’s License Matters
    • Drug Charges
    • Expungements
    • Felonies
    • Traffic Matters
  • Debt protection and defense
  • Electric Membership Cooperative Law
  • Family Law
    • Adoptions
    • Alimony/Post-Separation Support
    • Child Custody and Support
    • Divorce
    • Equitable Distribution
    • Name Changes
    • No Contact/Protective/Restraining Orders
    • Pre and Post Marital Agreements
  • Insurance Law
    • Insurance Bad Faith
    • Wrongful Delay
  • Juvenile Law
  • Municipal Law
  • Nursing Home Abuse
  • Personal Injury and Wrongful Death
    • Automobile Accidents
    • Motorcycle Accidents
    • Truck Accidents
    • Defective Products
    • On-the-job Injuries
    • Medical/Professional Malpractice
  • Products Liability Law
  • Real Estate
    • Deed Preparation
    • Foreclosures and foreclosure defense
    • Homeowners’ Associations
    • Property Litigation
    • Real Estate Closings
    • Real Estate Development
  • Small Claims Hearings
  • Social Security and Disability Law
  • Tort Law
  • Wills and Probate Law
    • Estate Administration
    • Will Caveats
  • Workers’ Compensation
  • Zoning and Land Use Law

Filing a Lawsuit

Furthermore, different insurance companies treat cases differently. Your lawyer should negotiate with the insurance company and attempt to get them to a number that you are happy with. If this cannot be accomplished, then the pros and cons of a lawsuit should be discussed. A lawsuit in a car accident case for example involves suing the person who caused the wreck.

Although they are sued in name, it is important to note that it is their insurance company that is actually the one defending the case and being sued. This is important because in court a lot of times the defendant sits there with a lawyer and the jury is not allowed to know about the insurance company even though that lawyer has been paid by the insurance company.

Once a lawsuit is filed, there is discovery that must be answered and this includes written questions and written requests for production of documents that must be responded to with information from you. When you answer these questions, you will have to sign a verification swearing that the answers are true and accurate to the best of your knowledge. Your lawyer should also serve discovery on adversarial parties so that information can be learned about them.

Your deposition may also be taken. A deposition is where the other lawyer asks you questions on the record in front of a court reporter. You have sworn to tell the truth in the deposition. Depositions are done by insurance companies lawyers to find out information about you, to make sure that your story is the same throughout this case and does not change at trial, and very importantly to size you up as a witness. Should a deposition be scheduled, you should receive written instructions and explanations of how to deal with the same.

Basic Information About Court Systems In North Carolina

In North Carolina, if you are charged with a misdemeanor, these cases are handled in the District Court. There are many possible resolutions to cases of this nature, but it is very important that you be up front and honest with your lawyer about your prior criminal record if you have one. This information serves a very important role in determining your sentence should you be found guilty or plead guilty and knowing this information is important in determining how to proceed in your case. Your lawyer should look at all advantages and disadvantages of your resolution options, from trial to plea to some other resolution, so that you can be fully informed of your rights and the potential outcome.

If your case is a felony, and you have not yet been indicted by the grand jury, your case will be set in the District Court for a probable cause hearing. It is very rare that the state will give you a probable cause hearing in that it is basically a way for you to obtain free discovery information. Rarely if ever do you present any evidence at a probable cause hearing since the only thing the judge bases his/her opinion on as far as finding probable cause is the state’s case. Therefore, the state would have to present only some of their evidence, and your lawyer would then have knowledge of this and could possibly use it later on to your advantage.

Therefore, if you are out of jail, and you have a probable cause hearing scheduled, it is likely that the state will move to continue you case. If you object after a certain amount of time and the state has not filed written notice to continue the case, the judge may deny the state’s motion and force the state to dismiss the charges. The problem with them doing that is you could possibly be indicted by the grand jury later and rearrested and then have to post a new bond. Therefore, when you are out of jail, generally these matters get continued, so that you can remain out of jail. Then if you are later indicted while you are out on bond, it is extremely rare that you are re-arrested or a new bond set and you are usually allowed to remain out on your current bond.

In the Superior Court System, which is where all felonies are tried before a jury, the charges need to go through the Case Management System. This system involves going to court one time every other month, usually the first or second Thursday of each month and trying to see where the case is going. The first Case Management setting is usually a preliminary setting where some discovery is exchanged and some details are discussed. By the second setting of Case Management, the state will make a plea offer if they intend to do so. By the third setting of Case Management the state wants to know whether or not you will accept a plea offer that was made or if it can be tweaked a little bit to make it acceptable otherwise the case is set for trial.

If the case is set for trial, it will be placed on the trial calendar in the order that the District Attorney’s Office sees fit. Therefore, a case can be near the top or near the bottom of this list and there is no exact way to know whether or not the case will be tried on the date it is actually scheduled. Usually, the District Attorney’s Office will go down a list and try cases in order. However, many cases will end up being continued or pleading out and a case at much higher number may very well be the first case tried that week. It is therefore essential that you be ready for trial on the date given and have all the witnesses and evidence necessary to proceed.

In a nutshell, we have just explained to you some basic information regarding a criminal matter. The details of your case will be discussed with you with your attorney. We thank you very much visiting our site and considering Wright, Worley, Pope, Ekster & Moss, PLLC.