Raymond Norris is a personal injury attorney at Shapiro Law Team. He specializes in catastrophic personal injury, with particular expertise in brain and spinal cord injuries, along with medical malpractice, product liability, wrongful death, and mediation of disputes. Prior to joining Shapiro Law Team, Ray practiced in Phoenix as a senior trial attorney in the area of personal injury and medical malpractice for more than 30 years.
“Ray is an experienced trial attorney representing clients in major medical malpractice and personal injury cases as well as commercial and business disputes, product liability lawsuits, police misconduct claims, and insurance bad faith cases.”
Throughout his career, Ray has spoken extensively about traumatic brain injuries and trial advocacy. He conducted trial preparation and jury selection focus groups and acted as a mediator in settlement conferences, helping disputing parties reach a resolution. Ray began this area of practice many years ago when first appointed as a judge pro tem for the Maricopa County Superior Court.
As a judge pro tem, Ray presided over trials when a judge was unavailable and conducted numerous settlement conferences for parties involved in lawsuits. He found helping lawyers and clients resolve disputes rewarding and decided to make it a regular component of his practice.
Though he primarily represents plaintiffs, Ray has experience representing defendants as well. Additionally, he served as an expert witness in legal malpractice cases for both plaintiffs and defendants. He also served as a sitting judge for both jury and bench trials.
His combined knowledge of being a trial attorney, expert witness, and trial judge has provided unmatched insight and perspective on the workings of our legal system.
Ray brings expertise and enthusiasm to each settlement conference and has had tremendous success with settlements.
Certifications
• Maricopa County Superior Court, Judge Pro Tem
• State Bar of Arizona in Personal Injury/Wrongful Death, Certified Specialist
Representative Cases
• Police Misconduct
- Chokehold was administered during an investigatory stop, resulting in death; $45,000,000 verdict after trial.
• Accidents
- Railroad crossing crash resulting in spinal cord injury; $16,400,000 verdict after trial.
- Motorcycle crash resulting in quadriplegia; $12,500,000 settlement.
- School bus-motor vehicle crash resulting in the death of a seventeen-year-old high school student; $1,000,000 verdict after trial.
- Semi-tractor trailer truck crash with automobile resulting in orthopedic injuries; $900,000 settlement.
- Motor vehicle crash resulting in Mild Traumatic Brain injury; $10,000 offered before trial, the case settled for $300,000 during the trial.
- And More
• Road Design
- Negligent design of construction zone and detour, resulting in a motorcyclist suffering traumatic brain injury; $1,600,000 settlement.
• Product Liability
- Defective tire and handling of small pickup truck resulting in spinal cord injury; $2,250,000 combined settlement during trial.
- Defective tire; $3,500,000 settlement.
- Defective tire; $900,000 settlement.
- Defective door latch on Phoenix Fire Truck resulting in ejection during intersection collision; $1,000,000 settlement.
- Dress caught fire after a teenage girl accidentally dropped cigarette ash on it; $500,000 settlement.
• Medical Malpractice
- Maternal death from postpartum hemorrhage after Cesarean delivery; $3,250,000 settlement.
- Failure to diagnose pulmonary embolism resulted in death; $2,200,000 combined settlement by one defendant doctor during trial and verdict against the other doctor after trial.
- VA Emergency Department failure to diagnose pulmonary embolism resulting in death; $1,500,000 settlement.
- Failure to provide adequate medical care to a paralyzed inmate in state prison; $3,000,000 settlement.
- Negligent wound care in the Emergency Department resulting in hand injury; $300,000 settlement.
- And more
• Workplace Injury
- Toxic exposure at the workplace resulting in severe lung injury; $700,000 settlement.
- Assault of staff member by mentally ill patient; $200,000 settlement.
• Insurance Coverage
- Bad faith refusal to pay death benefit; $1,050,000 settlement.
Honors & Awards
• The Best Lawyers in America, 1999 to 2022
• National Trial Lawyers
• Arizona Top 100 Lawyers
• Southwest Super Lawyers
• Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating
Professional Associations and Memberships
• Phoenix Trial Lawyers Association, President
• Arizona Trial Lawyers Association, Board of Directors
• Hope Center for Brain Injury, Board of Directors
• Spinal Cord and Brain Injuries, Governor’s Council
Distinguished: An excellent rating for a lawyer with some experience. This rating indicates the attorney is widely
respected by their peers for high professional achievement and ethical standards.
Notable: This rating indicates that the lawyer has been recognized by a large number of their peers for strong ethical standards.
