Stephen M. Kapral, Jr., one of the firm’s founding members and partners, was born in Williamsburg, Virginia. Mr. Kapral has been awarded the “AV” or “preeminent” rating by the prestigious Martindale Hubbell legal rating publication. Mr. Kapral is a 1987 cum laude graduate of Lehigh University and a 1990 graduate of the University of Miami School of Law. Mr. Kapral is a member of the North Carolina and Florida bars as well as the United States District Court (Western and Middle Districts of North Carolina). Previously, Mr. Kapral served as a past summer intern for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Prior to relocating to western North Carolina from Florida with his wife, Gae and their two children, Mr. Kapral was a partner and shareholder in the boutique south Florida firm of Zappitell & Kapral, P.A.. Throughout his distinguished legal career in Florida, Mr. Kapral has handled numerous catastrophic injury cases in all areas of personal injury including nursing home abuse, wrongful death, medical malpractice and automobile and trucking accidents. Mr. Kapral’s legal track record is outstanding with many significant high dollar verdicts and settlements achieved. (Click “recent result” page for more information) In fact, Mr. Kapral was selected as one of the top 3000 Plaintiff’s lawyers in America as published in Lawdragon. Stephen M. Kapral, Jr. is a member of The Million Dollar Advocates Forum, one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million-dollar verdicts and settlements. Fewer than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members. Please note: Past successes do not guarantee future results, and membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum is not a guarantee of any outcome in your potential case. www.milliondollaradvocates.com Mr. Kapral is proud to have been involved as a past scoring judge at the Association of Trial Lawyers of America National Student Trial Advocacy Competition. He is a current member of the North Carolina Bar Association, American Bar Association, North Carolina Advocates for Justice and a board member for the Greystone IV Property Association. Mr. Kapral continues to concentrate his practice on providing quality representation to clients in personal injury matters, wrongful death, nursing home cases, and property and fire loss claims.

I have practiced law in Asheville, North Carolina since 1971. I began practicing in Asheville after graduating from the University of North Carolina School of Law. I could not take the bar exam until August and Bruce Elmore, Sr. was in need of legal assistance even though I was not yet licensed to practice. My wife and I liked Asheville and we decided to stay after I became licensed to practice law in August, 1971. I got a lot of trial experience while with Bruce in both criminal law and civil law. After several years, I decided to open my own office and practiced as a sole practitioner until my daughter, Jennifer, and I began practicing as partners in The Moore Law Office, PLLC in 2007. As a sole practitioner, I practiced in the areas of Family Law, Criminal Law, Personal Injury, and Workers’ Compensation. Since Jennifer and I formed The Moore Law Office, PLLC, she has limited her practice to Family Law and I have concentrated on Employment Discrimination, Workers’ Compensation, Personal Injury, Social Security Disability, and Mediation. I believe that it is important to have a close working relationship with my clients. I try to assure that my clients are provided with regular communication regarding the status of their cases and what to expect regarding the legal process. When I accept a case, in addition to relying on my experience, I always research the law to assure that the law has not changed or been modified by recent court decisions. I rely on computer legal research to assure that I am up to date on the most recent changes in the law. One of my cases, Dixie Deerman vs Beverly California, is frequently cited as a leading case in the area of wrongful termination in violation of public policy. In this case a nurse was fired by a nursing home because she advised the family of a patient that they should consider changing physicians due to the physician’s lack of attention to the patient. The North Carolina Court of Appeals agreed with us that, since the nurse was doing what she was required to do by the North Carolina Nursing Practice Act, it was a violation of public policy to fire her. I began practicing in the area of employment law because I believe it is wrong for employers to base employee decisions on discrimination based on race, gender, disability, age, religion, or in violation of public policy. I represent clients with personal injury claims because I believe that persons and corporations that injure others as a result of their negligence should be required to compensate the people that they injure. I represent clients with workers’ compensation claims because I believe that employers should be responsible for compensating their employees who suffer injuries while performing their job duties. I practice Social Security disability law because I believe that persons who become totally disabled before age 65 should be able to receive compensation based on their contribution to Social Security during the years of their employment. I believe that Social Security is one of the most effective and beneficial programs ever enacted by the United States government. I became a certified mediator because I believe that, when possible, cases should be resolved by the parties to eliminate the time, expense and stress involved in litigation. I have served on the Board of Directors for The Mediation Center in Asheville. My non-lawyering time is spent with my family, including my wife of 48 years, who is a retired public school educator, my daughter Jennifer, my son, a pediatrician in Roanoke, Virginia, and my twin granddaughters. I am also an avid runner, hiker, and mountain biker who enjoys the beautiful trails in Asheville and Western North Carolina. I was a founding member of the Asheville City Schools Foundation. After graduating from Wake Forest, I was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the United States Army. I completed Army Officer Basic Training at Aberdeen Proving Ground and Supply Officer training at Fort Lee, Virginia. I served for a year as Inventory Control Officer at the Army supply depot at Qui Nhon in South Vietnam. My last six months in the U.S. Army were spent at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. During my service, I was awarded the Army Commendation Medal and campaign ribbons for my service in Vietnam.

We are proud of our reputation for excellence, which we have earned one client at a time. Our attorneys are recognized by judges, opposing lawyers, insurance companies, and — most importantly — satisfied clients for our willingness to fight aggressively for a positive outcome. The proof of our commitment is our record of litigating more workers’ compensation claims through the hearings and appeals process than any other Asheville law firm over the past 15 years.* See the results our lawyers have obtained for people like you.