Raleigh, NC WW/Press/October 18, 2022 -Robert E. Zaytoun, Founder & Managing Partner of Zaytoun Ballew & Taylor PLLC was recognized and distinguished as a VIP Member in the Top Attorneys of North America 2023-2024 edition.
Zaytoun Ballew & Taylor, PLLC located in Raleigh, North Carolina, provides highly skilled and experienced legal services to persons harmed by negligence and wrongdoing; representation to physicians and medical practices involved in business litigation, physician employment non-compete disputes, and in private insurance and governmental regulatory disputes affecting physician practices; representation of Plaintiffs in Qui Tam Whistleblower cases under State and Federal False Claims Acts; representation of Plaintiffs injured or killed through excessive force by law enforcement; and representing injured seamen and boaters in Maritime litigation.
Zaytoun Ballew & Taylor, PLLC has dedicated, compassionate, and experienced attorneys who practice exclusively in the area of civil litigation in all Federal and State Courts in North Carolina. His litigation practice can also take him to other states such as Florida where Mr. Zaytoun is also actively licensed to practice law.
Robert E. Zaytoun began his legal career in 1976 in Tampa, Florida following graduation from the UNC School of Law in 1975. He became a member of the Florida Bar in 1977 and continues in good standing. Robert practiced law with a Tampa personal injury plaintiff law firm until returning to his native state in 1979 to accept a position as an Assistant District Attorney for Wake County in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina.
During his tenure as an Assistant District Attorney, Robert E. Zaytoun rose to the level of senior prosecutor focusing on the prosecution of career criminals in serious felonies, including capital murder, armed robbery, narcotics cases, and sexual assault crimes. His tenure as an assistant prosecutor provided significant experience in trying cases to juries.
Robert E. Zaytoun entered the private practice of law in Raleigh in 1982, focusing on criminal defense but always held the desire to represent victims of wrongdoing and misfeasance in the civil trial arena. His law practice soon evolved into representing injured persons in personal injury and medical negligence cases.
Over the past 35 years, Robert E. Zaytoun and his law practice has grown to specialize in representing clients in catastrophic personal injury, medical negligence, wrongful death, business litigation and torts, healthcare fraud and abuse, product liability, hospital system anti-monopoly cases, class action litigation, Qui Tam Whistle Blower litigation, excessive force cases against law enforcement in State and Federal Court, and admiralty cases under the Jones Act and general negligence Maritime law.
Robert’s zealous representation of clients is the benchmark of his success as a litigator. Whether he is appearing in the State or Federal trial courts, The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in North Carolina’s Appellate Courts, at his client’s side at an arbitration or mediation, or advocating for justice through his many professional memberships, Robert’s commitment to leveling the playing field for his clients through the rule of law and the civil justice system is evident in every aspect of his law practice.
Robert E. Zaytoun earned his Undergraduate Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1971, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science. Robert’s blood runs “Carolina Blue” and he enjoys taking in UNC sporting events with friends and family, especially Tar Heel basketball games.
Robert E. Zaytoun is a member of the North Carolina State Bar; North Carolina Bar Association (Member, Sections on Health Law, Litigation and also Member of Litigation Council); Member, Wake County Bar Association (Member, Board of Directors, 1988-1990); Member, American Bar Association (Member, Health Law Section and Litigation Section); Member, The Florida Bar; Member, North Carolina Advocates for Justice (Board of Governors, 1989-1997; Executive Committee, 1990-1993; Professional Negligence Section; Vice Chairman 2000-2002; Chairman, 2002-2003); Member, Susie Sharp Inn of Court; Member, North Carolina College of Advocacy; Member, American Association for Justice (AAJ); Member and past president of Eastern North Carolina Chapter of ABOTA (American Board of Trial Advocates), a national organization dedicated to preserving the right to jury trial; a member of Public Justice, a national advocacy organization; and the South Eastern Admiralty Law Institute (SEALI).
Robert E. Zaytoun is also active in his local and statewide community. He has served for many years as a member of the Tryon Palace Council of Friends in his hometown of New Bern, North Carolina. He also served for ten years as the only non-physician (and only lawyer) on the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission, funded by the National Tobacco Settlement to allocate $2 Billion to statewide initiatives to improve the health and wellness of North Carolinians, focusing particularly on North Carolina’s school-age children and elderly citizens.
Under North Carolina Governors Michael Easley and Beverly Perdue, Robert E. Zaytoun served many years as a Trustee for the North Carolina Symphony. He also served as a member of the North Carolina Film Council under Governor Perdue during which he traveled with Governor Perdue and a delegation to Hollywood, California to visit major film studios recruiting films to be produced in North Carolina. He also found the time to produce an independent film, “Fighting Words” which premiered in Hollywood, California. Robert says he did not “give up his day job” for filmmaking but is a long-time film buff who thinks and often speaks metaphorically through films he appreciates.
His favorite cinematic masterpiece is “Casablanca” about which he wrote a thesis paper as a Third-Year law student while taking a graduate-level class in film history at the Communications Department on the main campus of UNC-CH. Most recently he produced a 90-minute documentary on the history of his family ancestry dating back to 1903 which will be submitted to a major documentary film festival.
Robert E. Zaytoun also served as the first President of the Board of Directors of “ArtSpace”, a non-profit organization that established an artist-in-residence program with studios and galleries in downtown Raleigh in 1986. His organization raised public and private funds to renovate an abandoned Ford dealership building in downtown Raleigh into an arts facility modeled after the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia.
Artspace has continued to flourish for over thirty years and was considered the catalyst in the overall downtown Raleigh revitalization effort in the 1980s and 1990s. He has closely maintained his association and affection for ArtSpace and chaired numerous annual ArtSpace Galas which raise operations income for the ArtSpace organization.
Beyond his home state, Robert E. Zaytoun also has supported for thirty years a ministry in Philippi, West Virginia called New Vision. During this time, he has funded mission trips to The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. During these trips, solar-powered light kits produced by New Vision were distributed to villages in outlying areas of The Dominican Republic to provide lighting for school children to study at night instead of having to rely on toxic kerosene lanterns.
These solar light kits also were distributed in remote areas of Puerto Rico to provide lighting during wide-spread power outages caused by recent hurricane damage. Robert also served for ten years on the Board of Directors of Farm Pilot Project Coordination (FPPC), a non-profit company located in Tampa, Florida, dedicated to the development of innovative technologies to protect groundwater from damaging animal waste pollution.
Robert E. Zaytoun remains a close supporter of his law school and believes in giving back by paying forward to support scholarships for needs-based law students. As part of this effort, he has chaired for many years the annual UNC Alumni Fall Golf Tournament. The tournament has raised over $200,000.00 in proceeds from UNC Law Alumni going directly to needs-based law students as annual $10,000.00 per student scholarships.
Outside of his law practice and other community service activities, Robert E. Zaytoun loves the outdoors and is an avid mountain bike and road cyclist, hiker, and backpacker. In the summer of 2016, Robert solo hiked for six weeks on the historic pilgrimage trail in Northern Spain, “Camino de Santiago”, a profound spiritual journey which also brought close-to-home another of his favorite films, “The Way”, a film themed around the “Camino de Santiago”.
Each summer he and a group of intrepid hikers walk a section of the Appalachian Trail. Their adventures have taken them from Springer Mountain, Georgia to the Berkshire Mountains in Western Massachusetts, and many sections in between.
Robert E. Zaytoun loves to ride his World Champion Tennessee Walker horse,“Mr. Grizzly” who has been Robert’s true friend for over 12 years, and he takes hikes with his dog “Hank”, his longtime trusty rescue in Umstead State Park which borders his residence in West Raleigh. Robert currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Wake County SPCA where he met and adopted Hank in January 2020 just prior to the “pandemic shutdown.” They are forever bonded.
Robert E. Zaytoun considers himself somewhat “Renaissance” because his natural curiosity takes him into many different directions, all of which he believes contribute purposely to his profession and community, and also help make him a more effective trial lawyer.
His first love, however, is family. Robert E. Zaytoun lives in Raleigh and has six adult children and 6 grandchildren spread far and wide in Southern and Northern California, Charleston, South Carolina, and the U.S Virgin Islands.
His mother, a long-time community volunteer, is now deceased, but Robert E. Zaytoun cherishes time spent with his 100-year-old father, a Marine Corps Veteran who fought for his country for 2 years ‘island hopping’ in the Pacific Theater from 1942-1944. Robert’s father, a member of truly American’s Greatest Generation, continues to inspire him every day to give back to his family, profession and the greater community.
The Top Attorneys of North America, a New York based publication, distinguishes and profiles leading attorneys who have reached a recognizable degree of success and leadership in their field. The directory is valued for promoting awareness of the accomplishments within the North American legal community.
