Paul Tharp, Esq.

Paul Tharp manages Arnold & Smith’s personal injury and workers compensation cases. He also leads the firm’s appellate and post-conviction practices.

Paul helps people through the worst things they have experienced in life. Persons who have been injured, assaulted, or abused, and families of persons who have been killed have relied on Paul for two decades to seek justice in personal injury cases. Paul has delivered multiple multimillion dollar jury verdicts and settlements, and he has never shied away from taking a case all the way. Paul has successfully argued criminal and civil appellate and post-conviction cases before all the state and federal appellate courts of jurisdiction in and over North Carolina, including the United States Supreme Court.

Paul grew up northwest of Chicago. After high school, he attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he played varsity basketball for three years. Paul graduated magna cum laude from UNCW with a degree in English and a minor in Philosophy. After college, Paul obtained his teaching certificate and was a high school English teacher for three school years.

Paul attended law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While in law school, he competed on the Moot Court Invitational Team and worked as a columnist for The Daily Tar Heel and Mere Dictum, two campus publications. After graduating from UNC Law and passing both the Florida and North Carolina Bar Exams, Paul and his wife, Tisha, settled in the Charlotte area.

Paul has tried bench and jury trials in state, federal, and administrative courts in North Carolina. He has written appeals and petitions in civil and criminal cases before the United States Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Eastern, Middle, and Western Federal District Courts in North Carolina, the North Carolina Supreme Court, and the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Paul has appeared and argued cases in nearly every judicial district in North Carolina.

At Arnold & Smith, PLLC, Paul’s personal injury cases have involved motor vehicle incidents resulting in deaths and serious injuries, civil rights cases based on excessive force and wrongful arrest, post-conviction relief petitions and appeals, general civil and criminal appeals, and other injury and appeal-related matters. Paul handles cases throughout North Carolina.

Car Crash Cases. Car Crash Cases are negligence cases. A driver on a public road has a duty under the law to use reasonable caution. When a driver breaches that duty and causes a crash, the driver is liable for the damage caused. Drivers in North Carolina are required to carry liability insurance. In most cases, drivers and passengers also carry uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, medical payments coverage, and other types of coverage. Many Car Crash Cases involve properly identifying and securing the maximum coverage necessary to compensate a person for bodily injuries sustained in a car crash. It is often necessary, in addition, to bring lawsuits to vindicate the rights of injured persons.

Civil Rights Cases. Civil rights cases typically involve a person who has been injured by the negligent or intentional conduct of a law-enforcement officer, a governmental entity, or the employee of a government. At Arnold & Smith, PLLC, Paul has represented injured parties in cases against states, agencies, cities, counties, universities, public school boards, charter schools, and numerous individuals employed by these entities.

Appeals and Post-Conviction Relief. When a litigant loses a civil case or is judged guilty in a criminal case, the person can appeal the judgment. In addition, a civil or criminal litigant may have the ability to bring post-trial motions within a specified time, file Motions for Appropriate Relief, petitions for writ of certiorari or habeas corpus, or take other steps to protect and promote one’s rights and interests. At Arnold & Smith, PLLC, Paul has represented numerous civil and criminal litigants in appeals and other post-judgment actions. Paul has helped to secure favorable results for clients appeals before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the North Carolina Supreme Court, and the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

In his spare time, Paul is an avid runner and enjoys hiking through the foothills of the Carolinas with his family. He and his wife, Tisha, are the proud parents of a son and two daughters.