Carolina Personal Injury News

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and we have experience handling wrongful death cases. We serve every area of North Carolina, including the Outer Banks, Nags Head and the western mountains, as well as all the cities and counties in between. In South Carolina, we cover the state from Myrtle Beach and Charleston to Orangeburg, Columbia, Florence, Rock Hill, Darlington, Aiken, Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg. 

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008 and listed in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. Our North Carolina injury law firm has also been named one of the Best Injury Law Firms in North Carolina for personal injury plaintiffs since 2010 by U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, our firm has the highest rating of AV from national lawyer ranking organization Martindale-Hubbell. That means we have a reputation for demonstrating preeminent legal skill.

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultations. So call us toll-free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call promptly.

North Carolina Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Blackwater USA Is Dismissed

A North Carolina judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit regarding security firm Blackwater USA and the four contractors who died while working for the company in Iraq in 2004. The wrongful death case was dismissed because neither side was paying for the cost of the court-ordered arbitration, though the plaintiffs plan to appeal the court decision and ask for a traditional trial in North Carolina.

The cost of arbitration would be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

During the incident, four men were providing security for a convoy of food catering trucks in downtown Fallujah when they were ambushed by insurgents. The four men, Scott Helvenston, Jerko Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Mike Teague, were killed, burned, dragged through the streets, and then hung from a bridge.

The wrongful death lawsuit states that not enough men were in the convoy, that they were not equipped with proper weapons, armored cars, or even a map of the area, and that Blackwater had begun to cut corners in order to save money.

North Carolina-based Blackwater USA, which has changed its name to Xe Services due to the publicity of the wrongful death lawsuit, has sued the families of the murdered men for filing a lawsuit against them, which explicitly disallowed in the contractors’ contracts.

The families of the men are holding out hope that they will still see their day in court and that Blackwater will finally be held responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.

Read More About North Carolina Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Blackwater USA Is Dismissed...

back to top