Lawyer Bio : Robert T. Numbers II

Printable Bio (PDF)

Robert T. Numbers II

"Bob"

Winston-Salem

Bob is actively involved in the firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group. Since joining the firm in September 2005, Bob has been primarily responsible for handling numerous matters at the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts.  These experiences provide Bob with the knowledge and experience to handle event the most complex matters in an efficient and cost effective manner for his clients.
 
State Court Experience

  • In January and February 2009, Bob was second-chair in the trial of a wrongful death case in Harnett County Superior Court. The plaintiff alleged that the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was responsible for the death of an inmate in the Lee County Jail because detention officers failed to rouse the decedent for over 14 hours. The jury returned a defense verdict after only four hours of deliberation. The case was featured in North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.
  • In 2005, Linda Thompson applied for a job with the United States Marshalls’ Office in Wilmington, North Carolina. Ms. Thompson claimed that various members of the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office defamed her by making disparaging comments to various members of the US Marshalls’ Office. Bob deposed Ms. Thompson and gained a number of important concessions from her that resulted in the case being dismissed.
Federal Court Experience

  • When a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm and a prisoners’ civil rights group instituted a class action on behalf of over 1,300 prisoners at a privately run correctional facility, the company that operated the facility turned to Bob to defend its interests. Bob was responsible for developing, implementing, and executing the strategy that saw this case dismissed before class certification or discovery began.
  • A local school board, faced with allegations that they had violated the statutory rights guaranteed by state and federal law to a child with a disability, relied on Bob to ensure that the favorable administrative decision it had received at the state court level was not reversed by a federal court. Bob and a number of Womble attorneys and staff analyzed several thousand pages of hearing transcripts and documents to prepare a defense of the school board’s interests that resulted in a favorable decision from the District Court.
Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternative dispute resolution is an important tool to resolve disputed claims in an efficient and timely manner. 
 
Bob has appeared in and successfully represented a Fortune 500 client in a multi-million breach of contract arbitration proceeding before the American Arbitration Association.
 
Bob has also participated in dozens of mediations in connection with his state and federal litigation practice.
 
Complex Civil Litigation
 
Bob has experience with complex civil litigation in North Carolina’s state and federal courts. 
 
  • Bob successfully represented Halifax County at the trial and appellate level in an animal rights class action. The certified class included all current and former pet owners in Halifax County. The named plaintiffs sought in excess of $350,000 in damages for each class member. Bob obtained summary judgment in favor of his clients and successfully defended the trial court’s order before the North Carolina Court of Appeals and North Carolina Supreme Court.
  • Bob is currently responsible for developing and executing the defense strategy in an inmate civil rights class action. This case seeks to certify a class of over 1,300 present and future inmates at a privately operated correctional facility upon allegations that the prison facility provides inadequate health care to the inmates and discriminates against them on the basis of their disabilities. In written briefs and oral argument, Bob successfully argued to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina that the plaintiffs’ failed to state a claim against his client.
  • Bob is currently involved in defending a potential class action involving the provision of emergency medical services to the citizens, residents, and visitors of Orange County North Carolina.
  • Bob is currently involved in a number of cases in the In re: Overdraft Fees Multi District Litigation pending in the Southern District of Florida.
Appellate Experience

Bob has argued four cases before the North Carolina Court of Appeals and participated in a number of other appeals that were not selected for oral argument. Bob has experience advocating for and against review of these cases by the North Carolina Supreme Court. 
 
Bob has also been responsible for numerous appeals at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Currently, Bob is involved in an appeal regarding whether the IRS failed to assess several million dollars of taxes against his clients within the applicable statute of limitations.
 
In addition, Bob is one of three regular contributors to the Firm’s North Carolina Appellate Law Blog. The Blog highlights developments in the appellate courts that affect business interests in North Carolina.

Additional Biography Info

Click on the headings below to view details

Close

Professional Activities

Admitted to bar: 2005, North Carolina.
 
Admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court; United States Court of Appeals for the Third and Fourth Circuits; the United States District Court for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina.
 
Member of the North Carolina Bar Association Technology Advisory Committee.
 
Founder and Chair, Piedmont Triad Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.

Civic Activities

Board Member, of the Wake Forest University Catholic Community; Board Member, Arts Based Elementary School; Founder, Piedmont Triad Lawyers Division of the Federalist Society.

Education

B.A., 2002, Wake Forest University, Political Science and Economics with Honors; J.D., 2005, University of Notre Dame, cum laude, Notre Dame Law Review.

Prior Legal Experience

Summer Associate, Womble, Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, 2003-2004; Intern, Senator Arlen Specter, Summer 2000 and 2001.

Publications

To Promote Profit in Science and the Useful Arts: The Broadcast Flag, FCC Jurisdiction, and Copyright Implications, 80 Notre Dame Law Review 439 (2004).