J. Christopher Brantley

I have been a practicing lawyer since 1993 and have worked in personal injury, workers compensation and social security law. As our workers compensation practice grew, I began concentrating more in this area and now practice almost exclusively in workers compensation. When the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization began a workers compensation Specialist program in 2000, I applied for and was successfully certified as a specialist. This involves an extensive application process, showing substantial involvement and knowledge in the field of workers compensation law, multiple peer references, and a very rigorous & difficult written examination. I have been successfully Re-certified as a Workers Compensation specialist every 5 years since that time.

As a workers compensation attorney, my goal is to provide the very best outcome possible for every client, within the legal parameters of the North Carolina Workers Compensation Act. I have been principal counsel in and successfully concluded thousands of claims. As primary counsel I have conducted numerous court hearings and thousands of mediated settlement conferences. These claims have ranged from occupational disease and repetitive motion claims to cases involving total and permanent disability, Medicare Set aside issues, ERISA Health Insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Administration liens, NC Department of Vocational Rehabilitation subrogation liens, scarring and disfigurement claims, NCGS 97-12 defenses, third party tortfeasors, claims involving multiple defendants, and uninsured claims.

I have also dealt with a number of workers compensation insurance issues, including subcontractor/general liability, choice of venue, multistate jurisdictional disputes, unreasonable defense, suitable vocational rehabilitation, death claims with multiple claimants, and causation issues and related matters. Additionally, I've had extensive experience with the interaction between workers compensation and Social Security disability benefits, personal injury claims, including out of state tortfeasors and accidents, uninsured and underinsured matters, and private disability plans