Durham

280 South Mangum Street, , Durham, NC 27701

(919) 787-8880 Contact

Raleigh

3605 Glenwood Avenue, Suite 500, Raleigh, NC 27612

(919) 787-8880 Contact

Rob has over 40 years of experience representing clients in a wide variety of civil litigation matters.  He has tried over 60 civil cases to verdicts across North Carolina in State and Federal Court, with many involving claims of millions of dollars.  His broad range of trial experience spans from complex business litigation, real estate litigation, estate and trusts litigation, professional liability defense, personal injury, construction and condemnation.

 

About

Rob’s experience comes from years of representing clients in civil litigation matters.  He specializes in estate and trust litigation and real estate litigation and has earned the reputation of being aggressive both in the courtroom and his preparation of a case before it ever goes to trial.  Rob understands that many clients want to avoid a jury trial given the time, expense and risk involved, and given his extensive jury trial experience, he is skilled at knowing when it is best for a client to settle a case without a trial.

Along with these services, Rob has extensive experience on professional liability defense. He has represented physicians, attorneys, insurance agents, real estate agents, appraisers, and variously licensed tradesman with respect to negligence and fraud claims in state and federal court, and before their respective licensing boards.

“Be prepared for everything you do and do it with passion.”  Rob has followed those principles his entire life and he learned them growing up in a small town in Eastern North Carolina.  His father was an FBI agent who later became a Methodist minister and his mother was a school nurse.  They modeled these principles to him in everything they did.  Rob played basketball and football in high school and went on to play football at the University of Virginia.  Athletics is a lot like civil litigation.  You have to be prepared for every game, and once the game starts you play with absolute passion.  In his early years Rob was mentored by two of the best trial lawyers in the history of North Carolina, Howard Manning and Tom Harris.

Rob is married to his wife Ginger and they have four children, Robert, Claude, Ryan and Rachel, and five grandchildren.  He has served as a volunteer with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for more than 30 years.  He is a member of Capital Community Church in Raleigh.

 

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Credentials

Education

  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (J.D., 1981)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.A., 1978)

Admitted to Practice

  • State of North Carolina, 1981

Professional Memberships & Activities

  • American Bar Association
  • North Carolina Bar Association member
  • Wake County Bar Association member
  • North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys
    • Former Director
  • North Carolina Association of Hospital Risk Managers
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (CLM)
    • President, Eastern NC Chapter
  • NC American Society of Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM)
  • Recognized in Best Lawyers in America (2011-2024) for Commercial Litigation, Construction, Medical Malpractice, and Professional Malpractice Law
  • Recognized with a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review AV Rating(2023)
  • Recognized by North Carolina Super Lawyers (2007-2014) for Professional Liability, Civil Litigation, Business Litigation

Prior Experience and Clerkships

Rob began his career at Manning Fulton in 1981 where he practiced for ten years before returning to his hometown of New Bern, North Carolina.  He spent the next sixteen years working with the law firm of Harris, Shields and Creech.  In 2007, Rob returned to Raleigh and reunited with Manning Fulton where he continues to practice.

Representative Matters

  • Represented a landowner in eastern North Carolina in a condemnation action obtaining a jury verdict of $6.0 million.
  • Represented a landowner in eastern North Carolina in an action to clear up title issues with respect to an 800-acre tract of land and obtained a mandatory injunction within two weeks after filing the action.
  • Represented a commercial real estate developer in a contract dispute obtaining a verdict of $500,000.
  • Represented a defendant being sued for fraud and break of contract and reached a settlement within the defendant’s insurance policy limits.
  • Successfully defended a client and obtained a jury verdict of no liability against a $3.5 million demand.
  • Successfully defended a client against a $25 million dollar jury verdict in a case. The Plaintiffs went on to obtain a $25 million dollar jury verdict from the remaining defendants.
  • Obtained a jury verdict of no-liability for a client against a $3.0 million demand.
  • Effectively obtained favorable “nuisance value” settlements for a client who was sued by over 35 plaintiffs for misrepresentation and who were seeking in excess of $25 million dollars.

Reported Cases

  • ATLANTIC AND EAST CAROLINA RY, CO. V. SOUTHERN OUTDOOR ADVERTISING, INC.
  • GAINES V. CUMBERLAND COUNTY HOSP
  • FLOYD V. ALLEN
  • SPANGLER V. OLCHOWSKI
  • ESTATE OF WATERS V. JARMAN
  • SULLIVAN V. BRIGHT
  • ESTATE OF SMITH BY AND THROUGH SMITH V. UNDERWOOD
  • OSBORNE V. WALTON
  • STRANG V. HOLLOWELL
  • BUTT V. GOFORTH PROPERTIES
  • JONES V. SWAIN
  • BRUCE V. BRUCE
  • DEWEY V. DEWEY
  • DOUGLAS V. PENNAMCO, INC.
  • SPENCER V. SPENCER

Community Engagement

Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Capital Community Church

Robert Shields represented me in a very complex and high dollar litigation and I couldn’t have been more pleased. Being a lawyer myself gave me the position to have a clearer and more detailed understanding of the demands the case placed upon him. Attorney Shields handled every aspect of my case with resolve, determination, and control resulting in my being fully protected as the defendant. I have known and followed the practice of this attorney for over 20 years and I highly recommend him.

George L. Collins, P.A.

Working as co-counsel with Rob Shields, Jr. was an absolute pleasure.  I have never seen a lawyer that is more prepared or focused on the case before him.   He has the ability to break down any issue to a level that is easy to understand and then apply the applicable rules to obtain the desired result.  Rob is the perfect example of a lawyer’s lawyer, and I am proud to say that I had the opportunity to work alongside him.

John C. Johnston, Esq.
Attorney-at-Law

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