By Tonda Rush
Published: February 3,2012
The American Bar Association in February will be asked to endorse a proposed uniform law aimed at new standards for state government websites that host legal materials. The Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act (UELMA) is proposed by the Uniform Laws Commission to address a trend, still in its infancy, of shuttering public printers and posting [...]
By john.stodder
Published: February 3,2012
A big takings case reported by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly has all the ingredients to pit property-rights advocates against an arrogant government agency willing to send certain property owners into decades of limbo for its own convenience.
By R. Michael Wells
Published: January 13,2012
If you had to identify some of life’s greatest gifts, other than your faith, what would they be? Two different stories, with two different people, and two very different circumstances, give us a big clue. One of the organizations in our area which deals with the aging population does so with kindness and special insight. It deals with seniors suffering through the ravages of dementia in all of its forms. But it sees past the loss of a mind that once was to what remains in the core of us all. It’s a sort of double vision which sees the character of every life.
By Guest Commentary
Published: December 23,2011
The North Carolina Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Mussa v. Palmer-Mussa, in which it refused to recognize an American-Islamic divorce, may have been consistent with North Carolina law, but it resulted in an unjust outcome. The dissent had a more nuanced approach protecting the financial rights of the defendant/wife arising out of a twelve-year marital relationship and at the same time affirming North Carolina’s recognition of religious marriages without a marriage license.
By Ed Poll, Special To Lawyers Weekly
Published: December 23,2011
Top 10 lists have long been a journalistic staple, but their ongoing role on David Letterman’s television show has made their use almost a cliché. Even so, a concise ranking can combine the value of focus with brevity. And there is nothing on which any business, including a law firm, should be more focused than increasing revenues.
By R. Michael Wells
Published: November 23,2011
His career started out poorly, to put it mildly. He studied law in upstate New York, at a law school no one I know ever heard of. He worked a few years at a small law firm in Albany, N.Y., and when that did not go particularly well, he moved to a small town in Wisconsin to practice. He practiced there for two years when his office building, containing his entire practice, burned down. He moved to California to work in a retail store with some of his brothers, but returned to Albany when that did not work out. He went back to California a couple of years after that.
By Marc Gustafson, Special to Lawyers Weekly
Published: November 4,2011
There was a quote I read on a friend’s loft in college that asked, “Are you the man the boy wanted to be?” This always struck me as an interesting thought, although I’m not sure I grasped its full meaning as a twenty-something know-nothing. But from time to time things in my legal career cause me to pause and to reflect on this question and ask myself whether I am, in fact, the lawyer the first year law student wanted to be.
By Paul Fletcher
Published: October 7,2011
Press releases or news releases are a standard way for a law firm, business or nonprofit organization to announce news and events to media outlets. It’s a two-way relationship that is valuable for both sides. The group with news or information wants to get its message out. The media outlet wants to know what is happening and is always looking for good stories. A good release takes a page from a Journalism 101 textbook and, in the opening paragraph, delivers Who, What, Where and When. It helps to work in Why and How, if possible.
By R. Michael Wells
Published: October 7,2011
“The Touch” is what my father called it. Dad was in the furniture business back home, and in the old days he would come to the Southern Furniture Market a number of times of year. The best salesmen possessed that easy Southern way about them. When one of them got to the crux of the issue, the real point of sale, the salesman would put his hand on my dad’s arm. The Touch, literally and figuratively, was the salesman’s signal as to which of my father’s conditions of the sale could be met, and which ones could not be met. Hard facts about what the deal required were softened by the charm of it all.
By John Kominicki
Published: September 9,2011
Long Islanders are a hearty lot, many of us having trekked here from as far away as Brooklyn and Queens without any sign of wear. We carved suburbia from the wilderness of summer estates, built schools and way too many fire houses, then perfected the art of shopping. We’ve withstood gypsy garbage barges and Amy Fisher, the Shoreham debate and Bobby Kumar’s kidnapping. Even today, we are a people that can butter a roll, apply makeup and tailgate, all at the same time. Irene should have known better.
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Johnson v. United States Since a final decision of the bankruptcy court has already determined that plaintiff received a fraudulent transfer from her husband of his million-dollar judgment against a former employer, the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel make it appropriate for this court to reach the same conclusion.
Satterwhite v. Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P. N.C. courts have not recognized a public policy exception to the at-will employment rule based on a violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Plaintiff has failed to state a claim for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy.
Benzing v. Tharrington-Smith, LLP Plaintiff claims that defendants wrongfully obtained a background check on him for use in domestic violence and child custody matters. Plaintiff’s allegations state a claim under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so this court has federal question jurisdiction.
Pittman v. United States Even though the Federal Tort Claims Act does not waive the government’s sovereign immunity with regard to intentional torts, plaintiff has nevertheless stated a claim by alleging that a National Guard sergeant failed to intervene while a specialist under his command gave alcohol to a 17-year-old recruit and engaged in sexual relations with her.
An “empty chair” alienation of affection case that resulted in a $30 million award tops the list of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly’s annual roundup of the year’s top verdicts and settlements. The 2011 list comprises the 25 of $1.5 million or more that were reported to Lawyers Weekly during the year.
As American Bar Association leaders consider more exacting standards for law schools for reporting post-graduate salary and employment information, a new round of class action suits is ratcheting up the pressure on schools and the ABA to address allegations of fraud and misrepresentation.
North Carolina’s largest law firm grew by three lawyers, one city and an unknown number of Palmetto state political connections last week when Winston-Salem-based Womble Carlyle merged with the boutique firm Hall & Bowers of Columbia.
The American Bar Association in February will be asked to endorse a proposed uniform law aimed at new standards for state government websites that host legal materials. The Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act (UELMA) is proposed by the Uniform Laws Commission to address a trend, still in its infancy, of shuttering public printers and posting [...]
