35°24′N 80°45′W · 8 counties
Personal Injury Attorney Serving the Charlotte Metro Counties
If you were hurt in a crash anywhere in the Charlotte metro area, I can come to you. We begin with a phone call or a video call. Then I meet you in person wherever you are, and we decide in that meeting whether to work together.
Charlotte's interstates carry express toll lanes and long work zones while people drive them every day. You do not have to cross that traffic to see me.
This page covers the corridors through the metro counties, what happens when the other driver lives in South Carolina, the four designated trauma centers in Charlotte, Concord and Gastonia, how three Patrol troops and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police handle crash reports, and the first conversation.
01
I-77 express lanes, I-485 and the Monroe Expressway toll road
North and south on I-77
I-77 is the north-south corridor. NCDOT's express lanes run on 26 miles of it, from the Brookshire Freeway in Mecklenburg County to N.C. 150 in Iredell County, with the northern section starting at Hambright Road near I-485. Farther north, I-77 meets I-40 at an interchange in Statesville that NCDOT has improved.
I-485, Independence Boulevard and the Monroe Expressway
On I-485 in Mecklenburg County, NCDOT's express lanes project covers the stretch between I-77 and U.S. 74, with an added general-purpose lane between Rea Road and Providence Road. Inside Charlotte, U.S. 74 is Independence Boulevard, which NCDOT calls the main gateway to Uptown from southeast Mecklenburg and northwest Union County. Past I-485, the Monroe Expressway is an all-electronic toll road that runs into Union County and ends between Wingate and Marshville.
I-85 from Concord to Belmont
I-85 crosses the region east to west. NCDOT widened a stretch in Cabarrus and Rowan counties near Concord. In Gaston County, NCDOT plans to widen it between N.C. 7 (Exit 23) and N.C. 273 (Exit 27) near Belmont, and in October 2025 it said construction was likely to begin in summer 2026.
When a crash happens inside a work zone, I want to see the contractor's traffic control plan and the lane-closure limits in its contract.
02
Can you sue a South Carolina driver in your North Carolina county?
A Charlotte-area case against a South Carolina driver can still be tried in North Carolina, in the county where you live. Under G.S. 1-82, when no defendant lives in North Carolina the action is tried in the county where the plaintiffs, or any of them, live.
You live in North Carolina
Your home county is the place for the case when the other driver lives across the line in South Carolina.
You live in South Carolina
If the other driver lives in Gastonia or Concord, the county where that driver lives is a proper place for the case.
Serving a South Carolina driver through the Commissioner
A South Carolina address also does not stop service of the lawsuit. G.S. 1-105 treats a nonresident who drives here as having named the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to accept the papers for a collision on our roads, with the same force as personal service.
The notice then goes to the driver by certified or registered mail. If the letter comes back unclaimed, or the driver moved without leaving a forwarding address, the statute treats service as complete on the date the letter is returned.
03
Carolinas Medical Center and three more designated centers in the metro
Four Charlotte-area hospitals are on the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services list of designated trauma centers. Atrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte is the Level I center, first designated in 1990.
| Hospital, as the state lists it | City | Level, as listed |
|---|---|---|
| Atrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center | Charlotte | Level I |
| Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center | Charlotte | Level II |
| Atrium Health Cabarrus | Concord | Level III |
| Caromont Regional Medical Center | Gastonia | Level III |
The same list shows Levine Children's Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center with American College of Surgeons verification as a Level I pediatric center.
A hospital's place on this list says nothing about where any particular injured person from a metro crash is taken.
04
CMPD, Troop H and the Huntersville DMV counter for crash reports
A Charlotte-area crash report sits with the agency that investigated and, once forwarded, with the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles. G.S. 20-166.1(e) has a local agency forward each report it receives to the Division within 10 days.
| Patrol troop | Headquarters | Counties on this page |
|---|---|---|
| Troop H | Monroe | Mecklenburg, Gaston, Union |
| Troop E | Salisbury | Cabarrus, Rowan, Stanly |
| Troop F | Newton | Iredell, Lincoln |
Confirm who responded
Outside city limits the Patrol typically takes the crash, a Patrol first sergeant said in an NCDPS interview, and inside a city with its own department that department most likely does.
CMPD for a Charlotte crash
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department points online requests to LexisNexis. In person, a driver, registered owner or passenger brings a government photo ID and the Request for Motor Vehicle Crash Report Form to the records desk.
NCDMV in Huntersville
The Division's Huntersville License Plate Agency at 12101 Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road takes TR-67A requests in person, and five records or fewer are handed over immediately.
Within those troops, the ncshp.gov pages give Mecklenburg its own district in Troop H, Gaston its own, and Union a district shared with Anson. Troop E gives Cabarrus and Rowan districts of their own, and Troop F pairs Iredell with Alexander and Lincoln with Catawba.
Under G.S. 20-166.1(i), crash reports made by law enforcement officers are public records, open to inspection by the general public at all reasonable times. The NCDMV page lists an attorney's office among the businesses that can order an unredacted report, which the Division ties to a permissible use under the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act.
05
Meeting in Statesville, Monroe or a Mecklenburg rehab room
The first conversation is by phone or video. After that I come to you in Statesville or Monroe or wherever you are, including a rehab room in Mecklenburg. We decide there whether to work together.
We decide there whether to work together.
If the crash took a life, the wrongful death page explains how those claims differ.
06
Your first conversation from Charlotte or Gastonia
Call 336-221-8900 or email julian@juliandobylaw.com to reach me. I was admitted in North Carolina in 1998, State Bar No. 25407, and the firm's one office is in Graham.
City pages
Charlotte Metro cities with their own pages
Each city page names its police department, its courthouse and its newest crash figures, with a page on getting the crash report.
| County | Courthouse | Superior Court district | District Court district | People killed, 2024 | Yearly average, 2014 to 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabarrus | Cabarrus County Courthouse 61 Union Street South, Concord, NC 28025 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 23 |
| Gaston | Gaston County Courthouse 325 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Suite 1004, Gastonia, NC 28052 | 38 | 38 | 41 | 28 |
| Iredell | Iredell County Hall of Justice 226 Stockton St, Statesville, NC 28677 | 32 | 32 | 30 | 25 |
| Lincoln | Lincoln County Courthouse 120 Justice Drive, Lincolnton, NC 28092 | 39 | 39 | 8 | 13 |
| Mecklenburg | Mecklenburg County Courthouse 832 East Fourth St, Charlotte, NC 28202 | 26 | 26 | 147 | 109 |
| Rowan | Rowan County Courthouse 210 N Main St, Salisbury, NC 28144 | 27 | 27 | 34 | 24 |
| Stanly | Stanly County Courthouse 201 S Second St, Albemarle, NC 28002 | 28 | 28 | 10 | 9 |
| Union | Union County Judicial Center 400 North Main St, Monroe, NC 28112 | 30 | 30 | 28 | 24 |
Courthouses and districts: North Carolina Judicial Branch, verified October 18, 2026; districts as realigned January 1, 2024. Deaths: 2024 North Carolina Traffic Crash Facts, NCDMV, table "Fatalities by County: 10 Year Trend," the newest edition posted; the printed yearly average covers 2014 to 2023. A case is not always filed in the county where the crash happened.
All 100 counties · from the Graham office
Charlotte Metro on the map
Tap a highlighted county for its card, or any county in the state.
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About the attorney
Julian Doby, attorney since 1998
Julian Doby has been admitted to practice in North Carolina since 1998, North Carolina State Bar No. 25407, and he represents injured people across the state. His one office is at 110 W. Elm Street in Graham. He meets clients across the state after a first conversation by phone or video.
More about JulianSources and verification (19)
- NCDOT, I-77 Express Lanes, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, I-40/I-77 Interchange, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, I-485 Express Lanes, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, U.S. 74 Express Lanes, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, Monroe Expressway, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, I-85 widening lane closures in Cabarrus County, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, I-85 widening closures in Gaston County, October 17, 2025, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-82, venue in all other cases, ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-105, service on nonresident drivers, ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- NC Office of Emergency Medical Services, designated trauma centers list (page updated August 26, 2026), verified October 18, 2026.
- NC Office of Emergency Medical Services, North Carolina Trauma Center Contacts (document dated July 2025), used for hospital cities only, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-166.1(e) and (i), ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- NC State Highway Patrol, Troop H, Monroe, verified October 18, 2026.
- NC State Highway Patrol, Troop E, Salisbury, verified October 18, 2026.
- NC State Highway Patrol, Troop F, Newton, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDPS, Safety Scoop transcript, SHP Answers Top Questions from Motorists, Season 4, Episode 2, verified October 18, 2026.
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Crime and Crash Reports, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Crash Reports, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Form TR-67A, Request for Motor Vehicle Information (Crash Reports), revised July 1, 2024, verified October 18, 2026.
Talk first. Then I can come to you.
Call or send a visit request. We start by phone or video.