Payton D. Hoover

Payton D. Hoover joined Richardson Plowden as Special Counsel in the Charleston office in 2018. He became a shareholder in the Firm in 2020. He is a member of the Richardson Plowden General Litigation Team and the Construction Law Practice Group.

With more than 20 years of litigation experience, Mr. Hoover has tried dozens of cases to verdict.  He has experience from both the plaintiff and defense side of civil litigation matters, giving him the ability to create well-rounded approaches to defense strategies for his clients.

Prior to joining Richardson Plowden, Mr. Hoover practiced in Charlotte, N.C. where he managed the civil litigation department. Mr. Hoover is a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, and was admitted to the North Carolina State Bar in 2003, and the South Carolina State Bar in 2007. He received his B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications in 1994 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduation, he spent five years working in the advertising industry before pursuing his legal degree. Mr. Hoover received his J.D. in 2003 from Campbell University. While at Campbell he was inducted into the Pi Alpha Delta Fraternity and the Order of Old Kivett for excellence in trial advocacy. He also worked as an intern with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Harnett County District Attorney’s Office and North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Wanda Bryant.

Mr. Hoover spent the early years of his legal career gaining valuable trial experience as a criminal defense attorney in Eastern North Carolina. Since then, he has devoted his practice to civil litigation in a wide array of legal matters including auto torts, premises liability, coverage analysis, appeals, multi-party complex construction cases and truckling litigation. Mr. Hoover has tried cases at all levels of state court in North and South Carolina. He has also argued cases at the State and Federal appellate level, including the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Representative Cases

Shehan v. Gaston County, 661 S.E.2d 300 (N.C. App. 2008)

Standard Pacific of the Carolinas, LLC v. Amerisure Insurance Company,  No. 11-1444 (4th Cir. (2012)

Sullivan v. Hawker Beechcraft Corp., __ S.E.2d __, 2012 WL 387874 (S.C. App. 2012)

Builders Mutual Ins. Co. v. Mitchell et al., 210 N.C. App.  657 (2011)

Awards, Honors, and Accolades

Kinston, NC Evening Rotarty Rotarian of the Year