Furman v. Gerould

Matthew D. Ballew

Ballew Puryear, PLLC

Matthew Ballew practices in all areas of the firm, including Police Brutality and Civil Rights, Medical MalpracticeComplex Business LitigationMotor Vehicle AccidentsPremises Liability and General and Class-Action Civil Litigation.  Matt aspires to a practice of law that centers around helping people. He has dedicated his career to representing individuals who find themselves facing the toughest times of their lives, and often up against the endless resources of insurance companies, giant corporations, or governmental bodies. He has successfully helped his clients fight for and obtain justice in major medical malpractice, complex business and investment fraud, and breach of contract partnership trials in North Carolina. Matt is a courtroom advocate, focusing nearly 100% of his practice on civil litigation, jury trials, and appellate representation across the state.

A native of North Carolina, Matt grew up in Marion, a small town in the foothills of the state. He graduated summa cum laude from North Carolina State University, receiving a B.A. with Honors in History and a B.A. in Political Science. He went on to receive his law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During law school, Matt was one of ten students from his class selected onto the Broun National Trial Team, the law school’s nationally competitive mock trial group. During his final year, Matt was elected President of the UNC Trial Law Academy, and he competed in the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) “Tournament of Champions” with the 16 top-ranked trial teams in the country.

He is proud to serve in numerous leadership capacities with North Carolina Advocates for Justice (NCAJ), a volunteer non-profit organization. He regularly writes and presents in connection with continuing legal education seminars in the areas of medical malpractice and civil litigation. In 2014, he was appointed to serve on the NCAJ Board of Governors and continues to serve in that capacity today.  In 2014, he was selected as Chair of the NCAJ Professional Negligence Section.  He continues to serve annually on the NCAJ Legal Affairs committee, and in that role has co-authored and served on moot court panels for numerous amicus curiae briefs to the North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

Trent Turk

Ballew Puryear PLLC

Trent practices Civil Rights and Personal Injury law at Ballew Puryear PLLC.

He is a member of NCAJ’s Auto Torts & Premises Liability section and New Lawyers Division.

Trent earned his law degree at Wake Forest University School of Law and has been a member of NCAJ since 2024.

Zack Kaplan

Ballew Puryear PLLC

Zack Kaplan engages in all areas of the firm’s practice, including state and federal constitutional claims, police and prison misconduct, and appellate litigation.

Zack is a member of NCAJ’s Auto Torts and Premises Liability, Employment Law, and Professional Negligence sections. He serves as Education Co-Chair of the Civil Rights section and the Law School Outreach Co-Chair of the New Lawyers Division.

He earned his J.D. at Duke University School of Law and has been a member of NCAJ since 2023.

Opinion Filed Pending
Attorney for the Case Jacob Morse Spencer Fritts
Amicus Brief Writers Matthew D. Ballew Trent Turk Zack Kaplan Katherine Copeland
Court NC Court of Appeals
Docket No. COA 25-936

Plaintiffs brought claims for medical malpractice and included compliance with Rule 9(j) in their complaint. Plaintiffs’ certifying expert was clearly well qualified. However, he testified in his deposition that he was not familiar with Raleigh or its orthopedic community but was instead applying a national standard of care. After said deposition, the expert was provided substantial information about the Defendants and the relevant medical community. Thereafter, the expert executed an affidavit which stated his familiarity with the medical community and confirmed that he maintained his opinion that the treatment in question “was not in accordance with the standard of practice among members of the same healthcare profession as [Defendant] with similar training and experience, situated in Raleigh, North Carolina, or in similar communities.”