David Kirby
Founding Partner | Edwards Kirby, LLP
David Kirby is a product liability, catastrophic injury and wrongful death trial lawyer and founding partner at Edwards Kirby, LLP in Raleigh, North Carolina. J.D., University of North Carolina School of Law (1977).
Meet David
Contact
Suite 100
Raleigh, North Carolina 27612
David F. Kirby is a trial lawyer and founding partner of Edwards Kirby, LLP in Raleigh, North Carolina. Over the past 25 years he has handled product liability, catastrophic personal injury and workplace accident cases, along with wrongful death claims.
In 1997, Kirby and his law partner John Edwards secured what the firm describes as the largest jury verdict ever awarded in a personal injury case in North Carolina, on behalf of the family of Valerie Lakey, a 5-year-old Raleigh girl critically injured by a defective swimming pool drain. The case ended in a $30.9 million settlement following a $25 million verdict, and Kirby received the national Steven J. Sharp Public Service Award in 1998 for his role in it.
He is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a fellow of the International Society of Barristers. Best Lawyers in America has listed him in its medical malpractice, personal injury and product liability plaintiffs categories, and named him a Raleigh Lawyer of the Year in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2024.
Kirby is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the University of North Carolina School of Law. He serves on the board of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice and the Board of Governors of the UNC School of Law, and he lectures on motor vehicle negligence and damages in personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Experience and Expertise
Qualifications
Timeline
- University of North Carolina (1973)
- University of North Carolina School of Law, J.D. (1977)
Practice Areas
- Inner Circle of Advocates
- American College of Trial Lawyers (Fellow)
- International Society of Barristers (Fellow)
- North Carolina Advocates for Justice (Board of Directors)
- Wade Edwards Foundation (Board of Directors)
- Wake Up For Children (Past President)
- University of North Carolina School of Law (Board of Governors)
- William Horn Battle Society, University of North Carolina School of Law (Lifetime Inductee)
- Best Lawyers in America, Medical Malpractice Law, Personal Injury Litigation and Product Liability Litigation, Plaintiffs (2023, 2024, 2025)
- Best Lawyers in America Raleigh Lawyer of the Year, Plaintiff's Personal Injury and Plaintiff's Product Liability (2024)
- Best Lawyers in America Raleigh Lawyer of the Year, Plaintiff's Product Liability Litigation (2018)
- Best Lawyers in America Raleigh Lawyer of the Year, Plaintiff's Personal Injury (2017)
- Best Lawyers in America Raleigh Lawyer of the Year, Medical Malpractice (2016)
- North Carolina Super Lawyers Top 10 Lawyers in North Carolina (2024)
- Raleigh Super Lawyers Top 25 (2022, 2024)
- Lawdragon Hall of Fame (2022)
- Steven J. Sharp Public Service Award (1998)
- Lawyers Weekly USA Lawyer of the Year (1996)
- $30.9 Million Settlement: Following a $25 million verdict; a 5-year-old girl was seriously injured after being trapped on a defective drain at a neighborhood pool.
- $10.75 Million Settlement: Deaths of two children and brain injury to a third following a truck wreck.
- $8.3 Million Verdict: Wrongful deaths of two boys killed in a bus accident.
- $8.1 Million Settlement: Wrongful death of a father of three following a highway wreck.
- $7.9 Million Settlement: Deaths of two people when an armed disgruntled worker returned to the jobsite; listed as a national record.
- $6.65 Million Settlement: Wrongful deaths of three family members killed on Christmas Day due to a defectively built section of highway.
- $5.35 Million Settlement: Law enforcement officer killed in a tractor-trailer wreck.
- $5.25 Million Settlement: Backseat passenger partially paralyzed following a motor vehicle collision.
- $5 Million Jury Verdict: $3.5 million for wrongful death and $1.5 million for emotional distress after an 11-year-old boy was struck and killed by an elderly driver as his father watched.
- $4.7 Million Settlement: Wrongful death of a college student during "hell week" hazing.
- $4.6 Million Verdict: Woman suffered a brain injury after being struck by a repo wrecker.
- $4.6 Million Settlement: Wrongful death of a 3-year-old and injuries to both parents in a tractor-trailer crash.
- $3.75 Million Settlement: Worker seriously injured after being struck by a truck.
- $2.35 Million Settlement: Family awarded damages after nondisclosure during the adoption process resulted in the assault and abuse of their young daughter.
- $1.35 Million Settlement: Driver who struck a parked tractor-trailer suffered an amputation of the left arm.
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