C.D. Taylor Pace

Taylor Pace has been practicing defense litigation in the firm's Raleigh office since the inception of the firm. He and Paul Cranfill co-chair the firm's Workers’ Compensation Group.

Taylor received his B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina in 1982, graduating with Phi Beta Kappa honors. He received his J. D. degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1985.

During the first several years of his practice, Taylor was involved not only in the defense of workers’ compensation claims before the Industrial Commission, but also in the defense of general civil litigation Superior Court matters, trying jury cases to verdicts in the areas of automobile negligence, products liability, and premises liability.

In more recent years, Taylor has focused his practice on the defense of employers and insurance carriers in workers’ compensation claims. He has represented employers and carriers at all levels of workers’ compensation litigation, including mediations, hearings before Deputy Commissioners, appeals before the Full Commission, as well as appeals before both the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. In addition to his practice before the Industrial Commission, Taylor also represents clients in State and Federal courts in lawsuits involving third party workers’ compensation liens as well as Woodson liability.

When the North Carolina Bar Association established its Workers’ Compensation Section in 1995 (which is now comprised of more than 600 attorneys), Taylor was selected as one of the original 15 attorneys to serve on the Section's governing counsel.

Over the years Taylor has been recognized as one of North Carolina's best lawyers in the area of workers’ compensation. He has been listed in the publication "The Best Lawyers in America," for the past few years. Taylor was recognized as one of North Carolina’s “Super Lawyers®" in 2008 and 2009. And for several years, Martindale Hubbell, the nation's most prestigious national peer review publication for lawyers, has issued its highest rating (AV) to Taylor.