Elizabeth Pharr McCullough
Biography
Elizabeth Pharr McCullough is a partner in our Raleigh office, where she advises and defends health care providers in matters involving patient care issues and risk management issues. She has successfully handled numerous medical malpractice cases and has taken many of them to trial. She has obtained numerous defense verdicts in cases of alleged medical malpractice, many of which involved catastrophic injury or death.
Elizabeth also represents clients before the North Carolina Medical Board, the North Carolina Board of Nursing, the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy, the North Carolina Board of Physical Therapy, and the North Carolina Board of Social Work Certification and Licensure. As the daughter of a retired ENT physician, she knows first-hand that it is never “just a case.”
Elizabeth also represents clients in federal court in Section 1983 civil rights litigation involving medical providers, working closely with the North Carolina Attorney General’s office in the defense of those claims. She has successfully handled appeals in the North Carolina Court of Appeals, North Carolina Supreme Court, Virginia Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
In addition to representing clients involved in adversarial proceedings, Elizabeth educates clients and advises them in matters pertaining to HIPAA, HITECH, and other security issues. She represents providers in medical billing audits and recoupment procedures and pathology laboratories with waste management claims.
Before joining HBS, Elizabeth was the first female equity partner for a dual-state trial litigation firm in its Raleigh office. Before joining that firm, she practiced for 16 years as a shareholder and served as the first female member of the practice management committee for a Raleigh-based litigation defense firm. She started her practice in Richmond, Virginia, defending medical malpractice / tort defense matters before moving to North Carolina in 2004.
Elizabeth earned her Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University and her Bachelor of Arts from Davidson College.
Credentials
Admitted
State Courts:
- North Carolina
- Virginia
U.S. District Courts:
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
U.S. Courts of Appeals:
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court
Education
- J.D., Wake Forest University, 1999
- B.A., with honors, Davidson College, 1996
Memberships
- Alliance Medical Ministry: Board of Directors, Immediate Past Chairman; 2018-Present
- Litigation Counsel of America™: Senior Fellow
- North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys
- North Carolina Bar Association
- Tenth Judicial District Bar
- Wake County Bar Association
Recognition
- The Best Lawyers in America®, Best Lawyers®, 2020-2025
- Awarded in: Insurance Law, Litigation – Health Care
- AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated™, High Ethical Standing, Martindale-Hubbell
- North Carolina Super Lawyers, Medical Malpractice, 2024
- North Carolina Rising Stars, Super Lawyers, 2009-2014
- Young Guns, Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite™, 2009
- Matters listed in Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly Top Ten “Biggest Defense Verdicts”
Presentations
- HIPAA and HITECH: Who cares?
Large ENT practice, 2014 - HIPAA and HITECH: Who cares?
Large multi-county pediatric practice, 2013 - Raising the Bar on Health Care from Behind Bars
North Carolina Justice Symposium and North Carolina Division of Prison Health Services Medical Leadership meetings, 2011 - Course Presenter
Autumn Care Conference, 2006 - Course Presenter, “Informed Consent”
Professional Advocates Insurance Company
Publications
- YOU’VE BEEN SUBPOENAED! A Checklist for Responding to Attorney-Issued Medical Record Subpoenas Without Violating HIPAA
- The Medical Board is Conducting an Investigation. What Should You Do?
