North Carolina has never been viewed as a money pot for plaintiffs’ attorneys, those skilled barristers able to convince juries to hand over tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars to aggrieved parties.
That’s often viewed as a positive by leaders in the business community, and less so by those who feel the state is too restrictive in permitting what critics call “runaway verdicts.” One factor is that North Carolina is one of only four states that has a “contributory negligence” law that prevents plaintiffs from receiving damages if he or she was even 1% at fault for causing an injury or death.
But a horrific crash that killed a Charlotte TV meteorologist and a helicopter pilot in 2022 led to a $50 million settlement last fall, showing that massive awards can still occur in the state. Much of the money went to the weatherman’s family estate, The pilot was not included in the settlement because his recovery is capped under N.C. workers’ compensation laws to as much as 500 times the “average weekly wage.”
“This was the largest settlement for a single-death case in North Carolina history,” says Will Owen, a Lumberton attorney who was the local counsel representing the family of Jason Myers, who tracked weather for the city’s CBS affiliate, WBTV. “You’re seeing verdicts of $75 million or $100 million in other states, but there’s never been one like this in North Carolina.”
Circumstances around the helicopter crash made the settlement possible, though it wasn’t an easy resolution. “It was hotly disputed for three years, and we took dozens of depositions, while the defendants who operated the helicopter were represented by very competent defense lawyers,” says Andrew Robb, a Kansas City lawyer who partnered with Owen to represent the Myers family. “They challenged us at every turn.”
On Sept. 19, the parties agreed to a public settlement that avoided a trial and enabled the lawyers to discuss the case. That was at the insistence of Myers’ wife, Jillian, who wanted to ensure that the award sent a signal about the importance of aircraft safety, Owen says. Many settlements are handled privately, so there’s a possibility that someone has received a larger award in North Carolina. Owen considers that doubtful.
Requests for comment were declined by Bill Starr, a Charlotte lawyer with Baker Donelson, which represented the primary insurance carrier, National Union Fire Insurance, a Pittsburgh-based subsidiary of AIG.
Nuts and Bolts
Chip Tayag, who had more than 20 years experience, was flying a Robinson R44 helicopter along Interstate 77 in the Charlotte area on Nov. 22, 2022, with Myers aboard. The purpose was to train Myers as the chopper hovered over a simulated news scene, a National Transportation Safety Board report noted.
Evidence showed that the crash was most likely caused by inadequate maintenance by the Total Traffic & Weather Network, which owned six helicopters used by TV stations in Los Angeles, New York and other cities. TTWN was owned since 2017 by iHeart Media, a San Antonio, Texas-based radio and digital business.
Experts for the plaintiffs said “it was one of the worst maintenance operations they had ever seen,” Owen says.
TTWN used a metal nut known to crack or corrode that connected the helicopter’s control rod, while dismissing Robinson Helicopters’ repeated warnings to use a different product. It’s also common for stripes to be placed over exterior bolts, which can be reviewed to see if there was any movement during the previous flight.
But the Myers’ lawyers discovered that the helicopter involved in the crash had not been inspected in-person by a TTWN mechanic on its 29 previous flights. The manufacturer had sent repair kits that were not used on the chopper, which was built in 1999, Owen says.
“It is hard to believe that this information was ignored,” he says. “The control rods control the helicopter’s pitch, speed and direction, and we think they came out in mid-flight and the pilot lost total control.”
The crash sparked massive publicity in Charlotte, where Myers, 41, had become a viewer favorite at WBTV and an active church leader. The Salisbury native earned a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from NC State University and started working at Raleigh-Durham International Airport while in college. He later took jobs at stations in Texas, Virginia and Kentucky before returning to his home state in 2019.
Expert Help
Within weeks of the incident, the Myers family hired the Robb & Robb law firm, which is led by Andrew Robb’s father, Gary. Forbes magazine has called him “by far the most successful helicopter crash lawyer in the country.” His wrongful death cases have included jury verdicts of $350 million and $116 million, the highest for U.S. helicopter crashes, according to his website. The firm represented the widow of NBA star Kobe Bryant after his death in a California crash in 2020, leading to an undisclosed private settlement the following year.
State law requires lawyers licensed in North Carolina to handle in-state cases, so the Kansas City firm chose Owen as local counsel in the Myers case.
The 2014 graduate of N.C. Central University law school acknowledges he isn’t among the state’s best-known plaintiff’s lawyers, such as former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of Chapel Hill, Raleigh’s Don Bryson and Mona Lisa Wallace of Salisbury. But Owen had developed ties to the Robbs, seeking their help on a plane crash tragedy in eastern North Carolina.
On Feb. 13, 2022, eight people died when a Pilatus PC-12 turboprop crashed in the Atlantic Ocean near Beaufort. The plane was returning in bad weather from a duck hunting trip in Hyde County and its passengers included pilot Ernest “Teen” Rawls, his son and co-pilot Jeffrey, and four high school students. Another passenger was the plane’s co-owner, Hunter Parks, founder of Green Assets, a Wilmington-based business that advises forest property owners on receiving income from carbon-emission tax credits.
After being hired by one of the Beaufort-area families, Owen contacted Gary Robb to check his interest in the case. “I emailed him out of the blue, and within 30 minutes, he and Andrew called me back. I told them I was a lawyer in Robeson County and that I knew they were the best of the best.”
The estates of five deceased passengers sued the plane’s ownership entity, leading to a $15 million settlement on Nov. 30, 2022. That was eight days after the unrelated crash near Charlotte that killed Myers and Tayag.
The Beaufort case hinged on the lawsuit’s contentions that the pilot suffered “spatial disorientation,” didn’t use flight instruments, and relied on his son, who had inadequate flight experience.
“It was entirely preventable if the pilot had filed a flight plan and used the autopilot,” Owen says. “He was a very experienced pilot, but he was hand-flying the plane. It had the hallmark signs of disorientation, and there was no mayday call.”
Family Business
Owen grew up in Wilmington and earned a bachelor’s degree at East Carolina University in 2011, then added the law degree three years later. The first in his family to be a lawyer, he then joined Musselwhite, Musselwhite, Branch & Grantham, a 70-year-old Lumberton firm that focuses on personal injury cases. It has represented an estimated 60,000 people in eastern North Carolina.
While Owen is the first in his family to be a lawyer, joining the firm right out of law school was a natural move. His wife, Anna, is the granddaughter of the firm’s founder, and the daughter of partner Eddie Musselwhite. Her uncle, J.W. Musselwhite, retired in 2024.
The couple lives in Wilmington, where they are raising three children. He commutes three hours a day, five days a week, to Robeson County because of the firm’s heritage and rich environment for cases in the multiracial, relatively low-income region, he says. “This area is very good for plaintiffs. The insurance companies know me and Robeson County very well.”
Overall, state law and the N.C. court system provide a fair opportunity for residents to have their grievances handled, says Carma Henson, a Raleigh lawyer at Henson Fuerst and president of the N.C. Advocates for Justice, a trade association for plaintiffs’ lawyers.
For example, North Carolina does not have a cap on damages in personal injury cases, with the exception of medical malpractice matters, she says. Efforts to chip away at the contributory negligence doctrine continue, though the GOP-led state legislature has shown no interest in a change.
The N.C. Chamber, a statewide business-promotion group, “is always concerned about trends that impact the legal climate,” says Ray Starling, president of the chamber’s Legal Institute. That is part of the overall business climate and member companies consider issues like jury award trends and so-called “nuclear verdicts” when deciding where to move or expand their businesses, he says.
North Carolina isn’t listed on the American Tort Reform’s list of “Judicial Hellholes” for 2025-26, “and we want to keep it that way,” Starling adds.
The Tar Heel state’s trial bar tends to operate with less flash than peers in Texas and some other states, where a few personal injury lawyers have gained notoriety for flashy behavior in and out of the courtroom.
“We’ve seen better states, we’ve seen worse,” says Andrew Robb. “But North Carolina was a more than adequate place to bring this case for the Myers.”
$126 Million Decision
So how did a $50 million settlement happen?
“Cases hinge on coverage, liability and damages. And many cases are worth a lot of money,” Owen says. While the Myers case involved much publicity, no one knew if the case was worth $2 million or
$100 million.
But Owen credits a confluence of essential factors. One was the conduct of TTWN’’s mechanic, which he calls “unconscionable.”
Another one was Myers and his family. At 41, he was entering his peak earning years with the potential for moving to a larger TV station. His wife taught kindergarten at a Christian school, and the couple was raising four young children.
“Their loss was massive,” he says. “Jason was young in his career and likely to go to a bigger market. “
Second, settlements often turn on the amount of insurance coverage involved. iHeartMedia describes itself as the No. 1 audio company in the U.S. through its 860-plus radio stations and digital companies. Despite nearly $4 billion annual revenue, the public company has struggled because radio is a tough business. iHeart reported more than $2.5 billion of losses between 2021-24.
Overall, iHeart had nearly $200 million of liability insurance coverage for its TTWN helicopter program, which provided a prime target for recovery. That included $50 million of coverage provided by the primary insurer, and multiple layers of “excess coverage,” through various specialty insurance companies.
“If there is a large loss, the insurance company is the one paying for damages,” Owen says. “iHeart itself likely did not pay a dime or pay for the defense of this case.”
Superior Court Judge Forrest Bridges approved a final judgment of $126.3 million, reflecting $105 million in coverage, and $21 million in interest. While the primary insurer agreed to pay the estate $50 million, the excess carriers had denied coverage.
Myers’ widow agreed to forgo a trial that was set to start Oct. 13, 2025, instead accepting $50 million. Her estate is seeking additional compensation from the excess carriers in a New York court, aided by the Robb law firm. Owen isn’t involved in that litigation.
Owen wouldn’t disclose how much he and the Robbs received and split in the two North Carolina tragedies. A standard contingency fee is 33% to 40% of the total settlement, with the aggrieved parties typically not required to spend any money. Such agreements are set at the beginning of cases, he says. Both sides say their partnership has been effective.
“I can’t say enough good things about Will Owen,” Andrew Robb says. “He did fantastic work on both matters. He’s a really good family man and he’s going no place
but up.”
The two major successes are prompting Owen to work harder, not ease up, he says.
“We get motivated by the process and the investigation. I want to find the truth and why something happened. We enjoy helping innocent victims of negligent conduct.”
Still, the caricature of greedy lawyers may never go away, Owen agrees. “You hate us till you need us.” ■
David Mildenberg is editor of Business North Carolina. Reach him at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.