By Brian Frasier
Published: May 22,2012
Alternative service is a constitutional due process issue, said Nelson Miller, professor at The Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and judges considering the use of a social media site for such purposes have to balance the state’s interest in enforcing its laws and the private citizen’s interest in having his day in court.
By John Stodder
Published: May 21,2012
If the much-hyped dream of U.S. energy independence must involve hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) to extract natural gas from shale deposits deep underneath the surface of the earth, the State of Vermont wants no part of it.
By Amber Nimocks
Published: May 21,2012
The last of North Carolina’s law schools conferred degrees upon the class of 2012 on May 21, bringing the number of new law school grads in the state so far this year to 1,235. Wake Forest School of Law awarded 165 degrees on Monday, after a hooding ceremony in Wait Chapel on Sunday.
By Melody Simmons
Published: May 21,2012
National foreclosure filings in April hit the lowest monthly total since July 2007, a new report by the data firm RealtyTrac shows.
By Sharon McCloskey
Published: May 18,2012
It might have looked like a victory for the Department of Transportation last week when the Court of Appeals let the air out of the tires of a group of Forsyth County property owners looking for some recompense as a class. But that decision had the smell of a pyrrhic victory.
By The Associated Press
Published: May 17,2012
John Edwards' defense team rested Wednesday without calling the two-time Democratic presidential candidate or his one-time mistress to the witness stand, a sign of confidence after presenting little more than two days of testimony and evidence.
By David Donovan
Published: May 16,2012
Gov. Bev Perdue today appointed Erin Mulligan Graber, of Graber Law Firm in Raleigh, to the District Court bench for the Tenth Judicial District. Graber will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Jane Gray.
By Sharon McCloskey
Published: May 11,2012
The notion of a bypass around U.S. 74 from Charlotte into Union County had been kicking around for years before the newly formed Turnpike Authority in 2007 proposed the construction of a 20-mile toll road that would run parallel to U.S. 74, skirt Monroe and connect to the I-485 beltway southeast of Charlotte. Under the supervision of the Federal Highway Administration, the state Department of Transportation moved ahead with the project, the Monroe Connector, and appeared to be on track to begin construction — until May 3.
By David Donovan
Published: May 11,2012
In politics, it’s known as the non-apology apology. Political strategist Ed Rapp offered one in the wake of an accusation he posted on his blog about Brunswick County Superior Court Judge Ola M. Lewis. But it didn’t help: The Court of Appeals ruled that while Rapp couldn’t be sued for his initial mistake, he committed libel per se when he stuck to his accusation in the apology, even knowing he was wrong.
By Phillip Bantz
Published: May 11,2012
The difference between plain old hardheadedness and refusing to back down on principle is often illusory. Luckily, the courts are around to help clear the fog of subjective righteousness and settle disputes when both sides of an argument are unwilling to bend, no matter the cost. In one such case, the stakes are high for a pair of homeowners who are going up against a neighborhood association in an affluent area of North Carolina’s coast. They built an $800 fence to hide some garbage cans in their backyard without first seeking the association’s approval and then refused to take the fence down, choosing instead to sue.
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Front Street Construction, LLC v. Colonial Bank, N.A. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), as receiver for failed bank Colonial Bank, N.A., entered into a purchase and assumption agreement (PAA) with Branch Banking and Trust Co. Some of plaintiffs’ claims against BB&T arose from acts or omissions by Colonial and were not addressed in the PAA. As to those claims, plaintiffs must exhaust their administrative remedies under the Financial Institutional Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) before they can seek judicial remedies.
State v. Squires When a state trooper saw a pickup truck on the side of the road after midnight and stopped to see if any assistance was needed, he was not required to leave after a person outside the truck told him everything was okay. The trooper did not impermissibly extend the stop when he checked on the driver of the vehicle.
State v. Rouse Even though, in his opening and closing statements, defense counsel referred to the arresting officers as “very good officers,” counsel did so in the context of arguing that everyone makes mistakes. Counsel could have reasonably made a tactical decision to refrain from challenging the officers’ general professionalism and competence, while still encouraging the jury to find that the officers arrested defendant on May 23, 2010 as a result of their inadvertent mistakes.
Robinson v. North Carolina Department of Correction Where plaintiff testified that, all the way around his wrist, there were “teeth marks” from too-tight handcuffs and that his wrist was bruised and swollen, but where a drawing plaintiff made to document his injuries indicated that only his left finger and thumb were swollen with no indication of bruising, discoloration, a cut or “teeth marks” laterally around his wrist, the evidence supports the Industrial Commission’s finding that plaintiff’s drawing was inconsistent with his testimony regarding his injuries.
