Sutherland, Rod K

Matthew was born in Harrisonburg, Va. His primary area of practice is civil litigation and personal injury. Matt earned his undergraduate degree (B.S., magna cum laude) in administration of justice and public affairs in 1990, at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. He attended Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University where he was the Wiggins Scholar, Editor-in-Chief of the Campbell Law Review, Paul Dennis Award Recipient, and inducted into the International Order of Barristers. Matt received his Juris Doctor (magna cum laude) in 1995.

Matt has been selected to The Best Lawyers in America in the specialty of Product Liability Litigation, the last three years, 2010-2012. Matt was also recently selected by his peers for North Carolina Business Magazine Legal Elite for Litigation for 2013. About three percent of the State's attorneys are chosen as best practitioners, according to magazine officials.

Matt is licensed to practice before all North Carolina State Courts, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He is a member of the North Carolina and American Bar Associations, the Eighth Judicial District Bar Association, the Lenoir County Bar Association (president 1997-1998), the North Carolina Advocates for Justice (member of Board of Governors), and The Eastern North Carolina Inn of Court.

Matt's practice is concentrated in the areas of catastrophic personal injury, industrial accidents, wrongful death, workers' compensation, commercial and general civil litigation.

Matt, married with three children, and his family attend Bethel Free Will Baptist Church. He is a member of the board of directors of the Lenoir Committee of 100 and has been involved in the United Way, Kinston Evening Rotary and the Kinston-Lenoir Chamber of Commerce. Matt has served on the North Carolina Advocates of Justice, Board of Governors, since 2008.

Matt continues his longtime love of athletics as head coach of the Carolina Tigers travel baseball team; earning a 1st degree black belt in jujitsu; hunting, fishing and shooting sports. He played collegiate baseball at Virginia Commonwealth University from 1986 through 1988.

In Recent Cases Note:

• Industrial Plant Explosion: Participated as co-lead counsel in obtaining $43,000,000 in compensation for the families and workers that were injured or killed in an industrial plant explosion that occurred at the West Pharmaceutical Services Kinston Plant on January 29, 2003.

• Acted as lead counsel in the Williams vs. Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co. matter that is the seminal case in North Carolina dealing with the insurance company's failure to provide an insured the opportunity to select or to reject underinsured motorist coverage. The North Carolina Appellate Courts affirmed the trial court's ruling extending insurance coverage to 1 Million dollars, the maximum allowed under North Carolina law. The Williams case resulting in sweeping changes to motorist's rights in North Carolina regarding uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.

• Wrongful Death: Obtained a 13.3 million dollar judgment for the family of a man wrongfully killed in a nightclub shooting.

• Golf Course Accident: Resolved a crossing accident at a public golf course for a passenger in a golf cart for a large confidential six figure settlement.

• Tractor-Trailer Accident and Death: Obtained a large confidential settlement for the wrongful death of a retired military service member who was killed in an intersection accident, despite allegations of contributory negligence on behalf of the client, through detailed accident investigation and accident reconstruction.

• Bad Faith Refusal to Settle: Successfully protected a client insured’s personal assets, provided for the cancellation of an excess verdict and obtained a confidential personal settlement on behalf of the client against an insurance carrier, when the insurance carrier refused to resolve an underlying liability action against the client within the insurance policy limits.

• Construction Cases: Successfully represented a Fortune 500 company in obtaining substantial payment for work performed at a large scale coastal development that involved the developer, homeowners’ association, and 95 individual owners of property.

• Faulty Construction: Obtained a 2.2 Million dollar judgment related to the faulty construction of a sports fishing yacht.