Benjamin S. Chesson

Having tried nearly 20 cases to verdict, Ben Chesson is a trial lawyer with a proven record of winning when it matters. He has tried cases for corporate and individual clients in state and federal courts across North Carolina. Ben has also represented clients in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, all appellate courts in North Carolina, and the South Carolina Supreme Court. Whether representing plaintiffs or defendants, Ben understands that while disputes are resolved in courtrooms—cases are won in the methodical preparation that happens long before a jury reaches its verdict. Ben obtained the largest collected judgment in North Carolina state court history.

Ben has tried cases or resolved disputes for large public companies, privately held businesses, individual and corporate investors, individual officers, directors, and shareholders, and professional architects, engineers, lawyers, and law firms. While many of Ben’s clients are in the heavy manufacturing industry, he has experience representing clients in a variety of industries. These industries include real estate, national security and government contractors, automotive racing, energy production and distribution, construction, medical, and legal. He has represented clients in litigation in Delaware, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, and Colorado.

Ben has been recognized in the Best Lawyers in America® for Commercial Litigation, Class Actions, and Product Liability Litigation (2021-2025) and Business North Carolina’s "Legal Elite" (2021-2025).

My Practices

• Trial counsel for international truck company in international arbitration where the panel returned a nearly $70,000,000 award that resulted in the largest collectible judgment in North Carolina history.
• Trial counsel for a domestic defense contractor in arbitration that resulted in an $11,000,000 settlement during the night before opening statements.
• Trial counsel for individual injured in a boat explosion resulting in a jury verdict and settlements of $5,169,307.30.
• Trial counsel for widow in wrongful death case resulting in settlements of over $3,000,000 on first day of trial.
• Trial counsel in winning defense verdict for major online auctioneer in claims based on misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract.
• Trial counsel for international tire manufacture in a consolidated product liability trial involving 8 fatalities and 12 catastrophic injuries resulting from a collision between a bus and an 18-wheeler.
• Appellate counsel in appeal to the Supreme Court of North Carolina that created a new standard in North Carolina for privilege claims by corporate officers in their individual capacity.
• Appellate counsel in appeal to the Supreme Court of North Carolina where the Court affirmed dispositive sanctions at the trial court.
• Represented corporate shareholder against corporation in records dispute that resulted in an order by the Business Court against the corporation in favor of shareholder client ordering production of records and payment of fees.
• Appellate counsel in appeal to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in dispute over the proper standard to hold participants in youth sports liable for injuries of others.
• Appellate counsel in appeal to the Supreme Court of North Carolina seeking to overturn an interlocutory order appointing a receiver over a solvent company.
• Trial counsel in winning defense verdict for client in severe personal injury trial.
• Trial counsel in winning defense verdict for multiple clients in automotive liability trial.
• Represented manufacturing company in claims to prevent former head of operations and head of sales from using trade secrets to compete against client. Prevailed on two motions for sanctions that resulted in a default judgment in North Carolina Business Court.
• Won summary judgment for tractor manufacturer in federal court on all remaining claims after winning a motion to dismiss on the majority of the claims originally asserted.
• Won summary judgment for individual architect in $17 million claim involving over 90 expert and fact depositions related to a post-tension concrete parking deck.
• Won motion to dismiss on behalf of major manufacturing client on claims of trade secret misappropriation.

Honors & Recognitions

Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America© for Commercial Litigation, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions and Product Liability Litigation - Defendants (2021-2026)

Recognized by Business North Carolina’s “Legal Elite” for Litigation and recognized in the “Young Guns” category (2021-2025)

Education

Wake Forest University School of Law, J.D., 2010, Editor, Wake Forest Law Review; Mary Parks Weathers Scholar

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A., 2007, Order of the Old Well

Admissions

North Carolina

U.S. Supreme Court

North Carolina Business Court

North Carolina Court of Appeals

North Carolina Supreme Court

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4^th Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of North Carolina

Professional & Civic Activities

Co-Founder and Board Member, National Students of AMF (2005-2013)

Faculty, National Institute of Trial Advocacy (2024-2025)

Legislative Affairs Committee, North Carolina Advocates for Justice (2024)

Member, Mecklenburg County Bar Leadership Institute (2023)

Pro Bono Representation Program, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina 

Member, Myers Park Methodist Church

A friend asked not long ago what I would do if I won the lottery. I did not need long to think about that: I would keep trying lawsuits. Sure, I’d go on more exotic vacations and find ways to spoil our kids even more. But I would still wake up ready to help clients win disputes at trial.

Being a trial lawyer combines many things that motivate me. We have the opportunity to learn new industries, analyze and solve novel problems, organize chaos into a single and simple message, and work as a part of a team rowing in the same direction with a singular purpose. Perhaps most importantly, it is the only profession where the participants win or lose at the end of the day. There is simply no professional opportunity that matches the adrenaline rush of standing up to deliver a closing argument or hearing the knock on the door that signifies a jury has reached its verdict. The pain of losing is outweighed only by the thrill of winning. That binary outcome drives me daily to outwork and out prepare our opponents so when the jury speaks, we—and our clients—experience the joy of winning instead of the despair of losing.