Setting the Standard

Attorneys

Deborah J. Bowers

Partner (Member)

After graduating from law school in Texas in 1980, Deb Bowers moved to New Jersey where she practiced for several years, first as an associate with a large full-service firm, where she specialized in fidelity and surety work, construction defects litigation, and commercial litigation, and later, as defense counsel for a large insurance company. Since moving to North Carolina in 1997, she has focused her practice on insurance coverage disputes and construction defect litigation throughout the state. She is a certified mediator and volunteers as a preceptor at Elon Law School. She has authored articles on insurance coverage for seminars and publications, including “CGL Coverage for Construction Defect Claims (Does It Exist?)” and “Trigger of Coverage for CGL Policies in North Carolina, How Did We Get Here and Where Are We Going?”

Practice Areas:

Alternative Dispute Resolution (Certified Mediator)
Appellate Practice
Commercial Litigation
Construction Litigation
Insurance Coverage
Insurance Defense
Products Liability
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Litigation

Bar Admissions:

New Jersey
North Carolina
Texas
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina
U.S. District Court, Middle District of North Carolina
U.S. District Court, Western District of North Carolina

Education:

Bates College of Law, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, 1980 – J.D. (Cum Laude)
           The Advocates, 1979–1980
           Order of the Barons, 1979–1980
           International Law Journal, Editor, 1978–1979

University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 1974 – B.A.

Sample Reported Cases:

Eason v. Cleveland Draft House, LLC, ___ N.C. App. ___, 673 S.E.2d 883 (2009)
Auto Owners, Inc. v. Northwestern Housing Enterprises, Inc., No. 5:06CV88, 2008 WL 901176 (W.D.N.C. Mar. 31, 2008)
Harleysville Mutual Insurance Co. v. Berkley Insurance Co. of the Carolinas, 169 N.C. App. 556, 610 S.E.2d 215 (2005)
Haney v. Greene Construction, Inc., 168 N.C. App. 239, 607 S.E.2d 56 (2005)
Home Savings Bank, SSB of Eden v. Colonial American Casualty & Surety Co., 165 N.C. App. 189, 598 S.E.2d 265 (2004)
Carlson v. Old Republic Ins. Co., 160 N.C. App. 399, 585 S.E.2d 497 (2003)

Membership in Law-Related Organizations:

Greensboro Bar Association
Guilford Inn of Court, Master
North Carolina Bar Association
North Carolina State Bar
Texas State Bar
American Bar Association
Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee
North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys (NCADA)
Chair, Construction Law Practice Group, 2008-2009
Defense Research Institute (DRI)

Legal Decisions of Interest

Plaintiff’s appointment as administratrix of a decedent’s estate the day after her complaint was filed and after the statute of limitations had run related back to the filing of the summons and therefore her wrongful death claim was not barred by the statute of limitations. Tallman v. City of Gastonia, No. COA08-1021 (N.C. App. Sept. 15, 2009). Click here for a copy of the case opinion.
Punitive damages upheld when Court believed there was sufficient evidence that defendant’s restaurant manager’s conduct was willful and wanton based upon his conduct toward plaintiff at the restaurant. Everhart v. O’Charley’s Inc., No. COA08-1454 (N.C. App. Oct. 6, 2009). Click here for a copy of the case opinion.
Plaintiff (representative of deceased employee) failed in her burden of forecasting evidence that a parent company affirmatively undertook to provide a safe working environment at the parent company’s subsidiary plant, beyond concern or minimal contact about safety matters, and the parent company did not assume primary responsibility for industrial safety at the subsidiary’s plant. Edwards v. GE Lighting Systems, Inc., No. COA09-247 (N.C. App. Nov. 3, 2009). Click here for a copy of the case opinion.
Plaintiff allowed to pursue claim to have “corporate veil” pierced of defendant company so that the obligation on a note by individual owning 99% of the stock of the defendant company could be satisfied from assets of defendant company, even though the company did not participate in the making of the note giving rise to the owner’s obligation. Fischer Investment Capital, Inc. v. Catawba Development Corp., No. COA08-1407 (N.C. App. Nov. 3, 2009). Click here for a copy of the case opinion.
Homeowners Association did not owe to a minor who was struck while riding his bike by a vehicular driver a legal duty to maintain the foliage in the common area of the housing subdivision. Fairbanks v. Brewington, No. COA09-237 (N.C. App. Jan. 19, 2010). Click here for a copy of the case opinion.
Plaintiff was contributorily negligent when she tripped over an end table at a hospital, and she presented no evidence that her attention was diverted as she was walking. Snow v. Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, No. COA09-189 (N.C. App. Jan. 19, 2010). Click here for a copy of the case opinion.
Where the Complaint was not frivolous based upon the facts and the law, but because Plaintiff had a history of filing frivolous pleadings in general and against Defendant in particular, the trial court could conclude that Plaintiff filed the Complaint for an improper purpose. Ward v. Jett Properties, LLC, No. COA08-1508 (N.C. App. Feb. 2, 2010). Click here for a copy of the case opinion.
Where the plaintiff mother alleged that the city was negligent by failing to comply with safety statutes and city ordinances regulating the maintenance of city streets, obstructions to vision and traffic, and parking regulations, and she did not seek to recover damages for the death of her child based on a law enforcement agency's failure to exercise its general duty to protect the public, she was not barred by the public duty doctrine. Beckles-Palomares v. Logan, No. COA09-567 (N.C. App. Feb. 2, 2010). Click here for a copy of the case opinion.
The improvement-to-real-property statute of repose does not apply to a claim against a city for failing to maintain its streets because a city has the duty to exercise a continuing supervision over its streets in order that it may know their condition and it is held to have knowledge of a defect which such inspection would have disclosed to it. Beckles-Palomares v. Logan, No. COA09-567 (N.C. App. Feb. 2, 2010). Click here for a copy of the case opinion.

Office Location

Phone:: 336.282.8848
Fax:: 336.282.8409

3203 Brassfield Road Greensboro, NC 27410