Car accidents in North Carolina happen suddenly, often catching the safest and most prepared drivers off guard. In the blink of an eye, a routine trip home from work on the busiest interstate highway near Morganton, NC, can turn into a life-changing situation. Before you know it, you’re seriously hurt and wondering how you’ll provide for your family.
Dealing with the aftermath of a car crash is a lot to handle, especially when you’re injured due to no fault of your own. Figuring out who will foot the bill for your medical expenses and monthly bills only adds to the stress. You’re left trying to answer questions like, “What happens next, now that I’m injured?” “Am I going to get fired because I can’t go to work?” “How will I pay for my hospital bills?”
Often, auto accident victims can’t handle their responsibilities when they’re hurt or recovering in the largest hospital in Morganton, NC. Without a personal injury attorney in Morganton, NC, to advocate on their behalf, these same victims give official statements to law enforcement and insurance companies by mistake. As a result, many men and women hurt in car crashes accept very low settlement offers without understanding that they deserve more.
If you or someone you love has been injured in a car wreck due to someone else’s negligence, you're probably wondering if there's a legal way to ease your suffering. At Nagle & Associates, our car accident attorneys in North Carolina can review the facts of your case, engage your insurance company, and help get the ball rolling on your personal injury claim so you can begin to heal and get back to a normal life.
Trying to find the top personal injury attorney in Morganton, NC, might seem difficult on the surface, but when you learn that Nage & Associates only handles serious motor vehicle accidents, the choice is easy. With more than two decades of experience only handling North Carolina motor vehicle accident cases, we’ve successfully recovered over $500 million in compensation for our clients.
Our firm is highly focused, with a proven track record in traumatic medicine, insurance regulations, and personal injury lawsuits. Founding attorney Carl Nagle is a former insurance claims adjuster and former insurance company lawyer. He knows exactly how to confront the insurance adjusters who are working now to oppose your claims. We also have two retired North Carolina State Troopers and four licensed NC auto insurance adjusters on staff. Our team stands ready to represent you and helping car accident victims is all we do.
We excel in employing top crash reconstruction experts, working with police to investigate collisions, preserving crucial evidence to establish fault and legal responsibility, and effectively presenting medical evidence to maximize settlements and trial outcomes. Additionally, we are skilled in managing settlements, minimizing external claims on settlement funds, and ensuring the highest tax-free payments for our clients at the conclusion of each case. Like the most popular monument in Morganton, NC, we stand tall for our clients when they’re at their lowest.
We refuse to handle all other types of legal matters because we focus exclusively on cases involving the following:
At Nagle & Associates, we aim to be THE authority on auto accidents and insurance law in North Carolina. We know how to respond to the aftermath of a serious accident and how to approach insurance companies to command their respect. When you choose our law firm, you can rest easy knowing we will collect the highest payment possible for our clients in every case we oversee.
What makes Nagle & Associates stand out from the crowd? As your personal injury lawyer, we’re passionate about providing the highest level of support when you’re facing some of the most difficult times in your life. We will help solve your problems, and our entire staff truly cares about your financial concerns and your medical recovery. We will work tirelessly to protect and enforce your rights.
Clients recommend our personal injury lawyers to their friends and family members because we provide:
Most law firms in North Carolina accept a wide range of cases. Many handle divorce, tax and business law, criminal defense law, and bankruptcy along with personal injury cases. Firms that “only” handle personal injury law typically handle vehicle injury cases along with slip and fall, premises liability, dog bites, workers compensation and many different types of injury cases.
They don’t focus purely on motor vehicle crash law. Our firm ONLY handles personal injury claims resulting from serious motor vehicle accidents. We are masters of the law in this arena and are prepared to protect your rights, establish fault, identify all at-fault parties, access all available insurance policies/coverage, and secure the maximum tax-free payment on all of your injury claims.
We only handle cases involving genuine injuries resulting from serious accidents. We’re not talking about a fender bender in the parking lot of highest rated fine dining restaurant in Morganton, NC. Our focus on high-value cases enables us to offer a reduced legal fee for settlements and trial verdicts. Nearly all other personal injury attorneys charge 1/3 of the settlement. If we take on your case, our fee is 1/4 of the settlement. With our more equitable fee, your share of the settlement is 75%, which is significantly more than the 66% portion that most firms allow.
Most personal injury law firms tack on additional expenses to their 1/3 legal fee. Those fees can include expenses such as postage, copy costs, administrative fees, and charges to outside vendors to collect medical bills and records. Our reduced 1/4 fee includes all case administration expenses.
Our attorney fees for cases that involve court proceedings are lower compared to what other personal injury lawyers charge. If the insurance company does not offer you fair payment, we will take legal action against all parties responsible and bring your case to trial. Other personal injury lawyers will take 40-44% of your injury claim money if a lawsuit is necessary. However, our fee for litigation is 1/3, which means that a larger portion of your personal injury compensation stays with you at the conclusion of your case.
Carl Nagle’s extensive experience in both plaintiff and defense roles makes him a truly exceptional personal injury attorney in Morganton, NC. He and his legal team now work only for individuals injured in vehicle accidents in North Carolina. Prior to focusing exclusively on representing crash victims, Carl Nagle spent several years working as an insurance claims adjuster in Atlanta. After graduating with top honors from the University of Georgia School of Law, Carl served as an insurance defense attorney. His firsthand experience in representing at-fault drivers and insurance companies enables him to predict and counter insurance defense tactics, and he knows how to push insurance companies to offer generous settlements in all cases.
We have seven offices spread across North Carolina, so there's likely one very close to you. However, if you’re reluctant to drive on the busiest interstate highway near Morganton, NC, or live in a remote area that makes travel inconvenient, we won't charge anything to meet with you at your home. Most things can be sorted out over the phone or by mail. Additionally, most cases are settled and result in payment with no court involvement, and this process can be managed without you having to leave your home. If your case needs to go to trial before a jury, we'll do this in your home county.
You aren't obligated to hire a lawyer to settle an accident claim. However, having a lawyer represent you in negotiations with the insurance company likely will result in a larger settlement. According to a report by the Insurance Research Council, 85% of the funds disbursed for bodily injury claims went to individuals who had retained legal counsel.
Former adjuster Carl Nagle offers this warning – “Insurance adjusters work only for the insurance company, and their goal is to minimize payment in every case. They are cost-control experts and they have no legal obligation to tell you what they truly owe. Whenever possible, they will deny valid claims and pay people less than they deserve”.
NC crash victims with serious injuries legally have nothing more than a “cause of action”, which means a right to sue the at-fault driver. Insurance companies know that victims who handle their cases without a lawyer present do not intend to sue, and likely also have no idea what their case is worth. Unrepresented victims are offered less than they deserve, and many settle for pennies on the dollar.
If you hire an attorney, you pay nothing up front and your lawyer beings working for you immediately. We handle all insurance company communications, ensuring that a skilled adjuster cannot misquote you or trick you into forfeiting your rights. We handle crash investigations and the task of gathering all of your medical bills, medical records, lost wage evidence and other case proofs. This is homework you will have to handle if you don’t have legal representation. We assemble the case and highlight the medical evidence which adds value to your settlement We then threaten to file a lawsuit on your behalf, and apply legal and financial leverage to push for the highest settlement offer. After settlement, we negotiate discounts on unpaid medical bills and on health insurance claims against your settlement money. All of these efforts protect your rights and result in the highest possible tax-free settlement payment landing in your pocket. And your attorney is paid only if and when we deliver money to you.
Victims of careless commercial drivers who have high-limits insurance policies and victims who suffer more severe injuries are targeted by insurance companies. Sadly, the more extensive your medical expenses and other losses resulting from a car accident, the greater the likelihood that the other motorist’s insurance company will contest your claim. Victims in high-damage cases should always involve an attorney to build and present their personal injury case.
Insurance companies prioritize safeguarding their profits over fair treatment of crash victims. Attempting to navigate negotiations with insurance adjusters and company lawyers on your own puts you at a disadvantage, as insurance companies have vast experience minimizing claim payments and extensive legal teams helping them oppose your case. Hiring personal injury representation is also a wise idea when you’re trying to deal with one or more of the following situations:
Some motorists responsible for accidents don’t have liability insurance or have only bought the lowest amount of insurance mandated by law. If you were involved in an accident caused by a driver without adequate insurance, a lawyer can assist in filing a claim with your own insurance coverage to compensate for the difference. We can often identify several policies that can be stacked together to vastly increase the pool of money available to pay your claims.
Complex injuries can necessitate costly medical treatment and long-term disability assistance. Without the guidance of a seasoned personal injury attorney, you may not be able to afford continuing care and upcoming medical expenses. Also, severe injuries often result in lasting or permanent symptoms and medical needs. Injury lawyers know how to retain VocReha experts and medical experts to develop the evidence which allows us to collect for future lost wages, future medical needs, and future pain and suffering.
A personal injury lawyer can help you recover compensation for the damage caused to your vehicle, and arrange for an independent assessment to determine repair costs. When a client retains us to handle their injury claims, we handle all property damage claims for free. We never charge to help with vehicle repairs, total loss claims or help securing a rental car.
In North Carolina, we have the “pure contributory negligence” law. In this state, if a crash victim contributes slightly to causing their accident or injuries, they have no right to present ANY claims. If you are just 1% at fault, you get nothing for your car damage or injury claims. Insurance companies always try to place blame on victims injured in car accidents. By hiring a lawyer early, we make sure you never make a statement that kills your case. We also investigate the crash early and gather evidence proving all other drivers’ fault, and proving that you were innocent and could not avoid the collision.
Losing a family member in a car accident is horrible, but it’s even more tragic when they perish due to someone else’s negligence. Surviving family members have a right to claim wrongful death benefits, but insurance companies will not simply volunteer fair payment. While you grieve the loss of your loved one, your wrongful death attorney can build the strongest case to help you secure justice and cover financial losses related to the death of your family member.
A traffic collision, also referred to as a car accident, happens when a vehicle crashes into another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other obstructions. Vehicle collisions can lead to different levels of vehicle damage, injuries to people inside, and, in some cases, even death. Annual reports from the past few years have indicated a consistent rise in vehicle accidents, injuries, and fatalities in North Carolina. The state recorded over 273,000 car crashes in 2022, leading to in excess of 110,000 injuries.
If you’re in one of the following types of car crashes, you should contact an auto accident lawyer ASAP:
A head-on collision happens when two vehicles’ front ends collide. This type of accident often results in very serious injuries and, sometimes, fatalities.
A rear-end collision happens when the front of one automobile crashes into the back of another vehicle. This type of collision happens most often when a driver fails to pay attention or is tailgating another driver.
When two vehicles are moving parallel to one another and make contact – usually due to an improper lane change – a sideswipe collision happens.
In a side-impact collision, one automobile crashes into the side of another, creating a “T” shape. These car wrecks are known to happen at intersections and typically produce serious injuries.
These auto wrecks are also known as chain reaction collisions and happen when three or more automobiles collide in a series of collisions. Multi-car pileups are known to happen in dense traffic and on large roadways like the busiest interstate highway near Morganton, NC.
When a vehicle turns over on its side or on its roof, a rollover accident occurs, which can have catastrophic consequences for the driver and also for other motorists.
Regardless of the type of car accident you’re involved in, you should know that North Carolina adheres to a fault-based system for wrecks. That means the driver found responsible for causing the wreck is usually accountable for the resulting damages. However, it’s important to note that North Carolina also follows the pure contributory negligence rule. This means that if a plaintiff is found even partially at fault for the accident, they might be unable to collect payment for their property damage and injury claims.
While insurance companies should provide a lump sum to cover all accident-related expenses, in many cases, the amount they are willing to offer is typically unfair and insufficient without help from an experienced auto accident lawyer like Carl Nagle.
Whether you’re driving near the the biggest university or college near Morganton, NC or taking a short ride to the store, a car crash can happen in a split second. When it does, it can leave you confused and disoriented. However, taking quick action after an accident can help preserve your rights if you’re injured. Keep these steps in mind if you’re ever involved in a car wreck in North Carolina:
If someone's actions or lack of action caused you harm while driving, you may have a valid personal injury claim. There are many types of physical and emotional injuries that fall into different categories. At Nagle & Associates, P.A., we’ll work with you one-on-one to gather evidence that can prove your case and help you receive the compensation you deserve. Whether you were in a collision involving a drunk driver, hit while walking to work, or sustained injuries in a motorcycle accident, our goal is to help you collect the full amount of compensation that the law allows.
At Nagle & Associates, we're proud to provide clients with the highest level of support when they are facing some of the most difficult challenges imaginable. We pledge to provide them with reliable legal representation and treat them with respect, compassion, and empathy. If you’re suffering from the results of a major auto accident in North Carolina, know that we’re here to help in any way that we’re able.
Our team of car accident lawyers will work tirelessly to help you confront and solve your most immediate problems, to build the strongest personal injury case on your behalf, and to collect the highest amount of compensation through settlement or trial. When you or your family’s health and financial security are on the line, don’t settle for less – choose Nagle & Associates, P.A., today.
More than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched the Southeast United States in the last week from Hurricane Helene and a run-of-the-mill rainstorm that sloshed in ahead of it — an unheard of amount of water that has stunned experts.That's enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys' stadium 51,000 times, or Lake Tahoe just once. If it was concentrated just on the state of North Carolina that much water would be 3.5 feet deep (more than 1 meter). It's enough to fill more than 60 million Olympic-size swimming pools.“That's an as...
More than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched the Southeast United States in the last week from Hurricane Helene and a run-of-the-mill rainstorm that sloshed in ahead of it — an unheard of amount of water that has stunned experts.
That's enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys' stadium 51,000 times, or Lake Tahoe just once. If it was concentrated just on the state of North Carolina that much water would be 3.5 feet deep (more than 1 meter). It's enough to fill more than 60 million Olympic-size swimming pools.
“That's an astronomical amount of precipitation,” said Ed Clark, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Water Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. "I have not seen something in my 25 years of working at the weather service that is this geographically large of an extent and the sheer volume of water that fell from the sky.''
The flood damage from the rain is apocalyptic, meteorologists said. More than 100 people are dead, according to officials.
Private meteorologist Ryan Maue, a former NOAA chief scientist, calculated the amount of rain, using precipitation measurements made in 2.5-mile-by-2.5 mile grids as measured by satellites and ground observations. He came up with 40 trillion gallons through Sunday for the eastern United States, with 20 trillion gallons of that hitting just Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Florida from Hurricane Helene.
Clark did the calculations independently and said the 40 trillion gallon figure (151 trillion liters) is about right and, if anything, conservative. Maue said maybe 1 to 2 trillion more gallons of rain had fallen, much of it in Virginia, since his calculations.
Clark, who spends much of his work on issues of shrinking western water supplies, said to put the amount of rain in perspective, it's more than twice the combined amount of water stored by two key Colorado River basin reservoirs: Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
Several meteorologists said this was a combination of two, maybe three storm systems. Before Helene struck, rain had fallen heavily for days because a low pressure system had “cut off” from the jet stream — which moves weather systems along west to east — and stalled over the Southeast. That funneled plenty of warm water from the Gulf of Mexico. And a storm that fell just short of named status parked along North Carolina's Atlantic coast, dumping as much as 20 inches of rain, said North Carolina state climatologist Kathie Dello.
Then add Helene, one of the largest storms in the last couple decades and one that held plenty of rain because it was young and moved fast before it hit the Appalachians, said University of Albany hurricane expert Kristen Corbosiero.
“It was not just a perfect storm, but it was a combination of multiple storms that that led to the enormous amount of rain,” Maue said. “That collected at high elevation, we’re talking 3,000 to 6000 feet. And when you drop trillions of gallons on a mountain, that has to go down.”
The fact that these storms hit the mountains made everything worse, and not just because of runoff. The interaction between the mountains and the storm systems wrings more moisture out of the air, Clark, Maue and Corbosiero said.
North Carolina weather officials said their top measurement total was 31.33 inches in the tiny town of Busick. Mount Mitchell also got more than 2 feet of rainfall.
Before 2017's Hurricane Harvey, “I said to our colleagues, you know, I never thought in my career that we would measure rainfall in feet,” Clark said. “And after Harvey, Florence, the more isolated events in eastern Kentucky, portions of South Dakota. We’re seeing events year in and year out where we are measuring rainfall in feet.”
Storms are getting wetter as the climate change s, said Corbosiero and Dello. A basic law of physics says the air holds nearly 4% more moisture for every degree Fahrenheit warmer (7% for every degree Celsius) and the world has warmed more than 2 degrees (1.2 degrees Celsius) since pre-industrial times.
Corbosiero said meteorologists are vigorously debating how much of Helene is due to worsening climate change and how much is random.
In a quick analysis, not peer-reviewed but using a method published in a study about Hurricane Harvey's rainfall, three scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab determined that climate change caused 50% more rainfall during Helene in some parts of Georgia and the Carolinas.
For Dello, the “fingerprints of climate change” were clear.
“We’ve seen tropical storm impacts in western North Carolina. But these storms are wetter and these storms are warmer. And there would have been a time when a tropical storm would have been heading toward North Carolina and would have caused some rain and some damage, but not apocalyptic destruction. ”
The city is one of many areas in western North Carolina still recovering from Helene.More VideosMORGANTON, N.C. — The city of Morganton is one of many areas in western North Carolina still recovering from Helene.The city makes up at least 5% of the power outages in the Carolinas.Burke County leaders are still reporting downed power lines, no cell service, blocked roads, and receding flood waters.WFMY News 2's Giselle Thomas visited Morganton this morning and shared more about what the conditions are...
The city is one of many areas in western North Carolina still recovering from Helene.
MORGANTON, N.C. — The city of Morganton is one of many areas in western North Carolina still recovering from Helene.
The city makes up at least 5% of the power outages in the Carolinas.
Burke County leaders are still reporting downed power lines, no cell service, blocked roads, and receding flood waters.
WFMY News 2's Giselle Thomas visited Morganton this morning and shared more about what the conditions are like there after Helene.
She said Morganton City Hall is still closed to the general public.
The city is asking residents to fill out the following property damage form: Burke County Helene Damage Assessment Form.
If you are looking for ways to help residents in western North Carolina in the aftermath of Helene, we have a list of reputable organizations who are already in action assisting in areas impacted by the storm. If you have suggestions for organizations to be added to this list, you can contact us at [email protected].
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Justin Davis summed the damage caused by Tropical Storm Helene to his Morganton restaurant in one word Monday afternoon: “Heartbreaking.”Davis is one of the owners of Town Tavern in the River Village shopping center on Sanford Drive in Morganton. He said flooding from the adjacent Catawba River rose about 5 feet into the restaurant.“It’s devastating. It’s pretty sad to see,” Davis said.He said the damage to the restaurant is substantial.“I guess they call it a hundred-year...
Justin Davis summed the damage caused by Tropical Storm Helene to his Morganton restaurant in one word Monday afternoon: “Heartbreaking.”
Davis is one of the owners of Town Tavern in the River Village shopping center on Sanford Drive in Morganton. He said flooding from the adjacent Catawba River rose about 5 feet into the restaurant.
“It’s devastating. It’s pretty sad to see,” Davis said.
He said the damage to the restaurant is substantial.
“I guess they call it a hundred-year flood,” Davis said. “I hope I never see nothing like it again in my lifetime.”
He said he hopes to rebuild, but the owners, like everyone else, are taking it day by day. He said the restaurant will have to be gutted and renovated from scratch.
“Build back bigger, better,” Davis said of starting over.
The restaurant opened in its River Village location in March 2021, Davis said.
He said it was a beautiful restaurant that people seemed to enjoy. Other locations of Town Tavern are in Blowing Rock and Banner Elk. Even though those two towns suffered devastating destruction, the Town Taverns in those locations faired much better than the Morganton location, Davis said.
“We were real fortunate that all of our locations are good, but all around us is just so much destruction everywhere,” Davis said. “Roads washed out, trees, roads, homes destroyed and flooding. It’s just so much to process. All the office buildings in that strip (in Morganton) all washed out, all destroyed.”
He said he is thankful none of the employees were hurt and said things can be replaced.
“It is sad for the staff,” Davis said. “We have so many key employees. Great and wonderful employees.”
He hopes there are some programs they can get in place for the restaurant’s staff to help them out until the restaurant can rebuild.
“It’s just going to take some time,” Davis said. “But we look forward to getting back open and seeing all of our family and friends and people in the community come back in and pick up right where we left off.
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WBTV spoke to many people living in the Morganton area, dealing with the aftermath. MORGANTON, N.C. (WBTV) - Several thousand families are without water, power, and cell phone service after Helene brought powerful winds and lots of rain, leaving behind downed trees and severe flooding in several areas in Morganton.WBTV spoke to many people living in the Morganton area, dealing with the aftermath.“I’m originally from Florida so I know what a Hurricane is so when we started preparing for this I just picked up...
MORGANTON, N.C. (WBTV) - Several thousand families are without water, power, and cell phone service after Helene brought powerful winds and lots of rain, leaving behind downed trees and severe flooding in several areas in Morganton.
WBTV spoke to many people living in the Morganton area, dealing with the aftermath.
“I’m originally from Florida so I know what a Hurricane is so when we started preparing for this I just picked up all of my loose stuff and put it on the porch and said ‘ohh it’ll be okay’ I was not prepared for this. This is Hurricane and it’s like where did this come from?” questioned Morganton resident Rae-Ann Buchanan.
Many in the area are living without their everyday necessities.
“I guess it was like 7:30 we lost power and we’ve not had power since. And then today about 7:15 this morning we got the alerts that the water would be depleted once the water was gone. There was no more water through the City.” High waters quickly flooded this apartment building—-forcing families to face the harsh reality that many of their belongings are gone,” shared Morganton resident Kellie Burleson.
High waters quickly flooded an apartment building, forcing families to face the harsh reality that many of their belongings were gone.
Leslie Acevedo lives and Alejandra Lopez told WBTV about the moments waters rushed into their building.
“We were watching as the river was going but we never thought it would reach out house, and then by the afternoon it just came inside the house,” said Acevedo
“The water wet down thankfully, thank God, but everything was just floating,” explained Lopez.
The City of Morganton sent out an emergency alert stating the City’s water plant is not in operation, due to a raw water pump station being underwater.
The alert continued by saying any water in the system will soon be depleted.
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