By Amber Nimocks
Published: February 3,2012
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.
By Phillip Bantz
Published: January 27,2012
LegalZoom has filed a second lawsuit against the N.C. State Bar, this time asking the court to enforce the self-help legal website’s broad public records request seeking an array of internal documents from the Bar.
By Amber Nimocks
Published: January 27,2012
Like most of the country’s law schools, those in North Carolina and South Carolina stumble when it comes to reporting clear and accurate information about post-graduate employment on their websites, according to a new survey by the advocacy group Law School Transparency. The nonprofit policy organization issued the Transparency Index on its website (www.lawschooltransparency.com) earlier this month. The exhaustive evaluation is LST’s latest effort to cajole law schools into providing prospective and current law students with more realistic portraits of the economic conditions awaiting them after graduation.
By Phillip Bantz
Published: January 27,2012
In a ruling that strengthens victims’ rights and clarifies an ambiguous state law, the N.C. Court of Appeals has determined that deferred prosecution agreements can toll the statute of limitations on civil claims arising from criminal cases.
By Sharon McCloskey
Published: January 27,2012
The night police officer Richard Necessary sat on a drunk-driving suspect in order to get a blood sample might prove to be the night when courts realized enough is enough.
By Sharon McCloskey
Published: January 20,2012
When the mothers of Dylan Walker and Austin Maness, then 9 and 12, picked up their sons from Clemson University’s Camp Military Kid — a program held at Camp Bob Cooper in Summerton, S.C. for children of deployed soldiers — something was clearly wrong. Dylan was sitting by himself in the back of an otherwise full cafeteria, his eyes bloodshot. Austin was noticeably irritable. Once home, both boys couldn’t sleep. Dylan was wetting the bed and began sleeping with his mother. Austin was distant and angry towards his mother. Neither would say what was wrong until Austin’s mother caught him strangling his younger brother, then 8. That’s when they learned about Ronald “Eddie” Riley, a17-year old camper who’d been elevated to the role of junior counselor and was in charge of a group of four boys, including Walker and Maness.
By Amber Nimocks
Published: January 20,2012
A simple arithmetic problem was the first challenge for members of the state’s new Judicial Nominating Commission: So far, the group has one candidate to recommend for North Carolina’s empty District 11-A Superior Court judgeship. It needs three. The JNC held its inaugural meeting Jan. 18 in the old Senate chambers of the State Capitol in Raleigh. Pictured, former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice James G. Exum Jr. addresses the JNC.
By Phillip Bantz
Published: January 20,2012
A U.S. District Court judge in Charlotte has dismissed a class-action lawsuit that accuses the Family Dollar discount-store chain of discriminating against female employees. The plaintiffs in Scott v. Family Dollar Stores, Inc. failed to meet the standard for class claims set by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. determined in a Jan. 13 order. Cogburn appears to be the first federal judge in the country to interpret the Dukes ruling in a potential nationwide class-action employment suit, according to the head of Family Dollar’s defense team, John R. Wester of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson in Charlotte. His colleagues David C. Wright III and Adam K. Doerr also represent the company.
By Sharon McCloskey
Published: January 20,2012
When Paula Smith and her husband put their house in Winston-Salem up for sale nine years ago, they had plenty of lookers, but no buyers. They couldn’t figure out why, until they learned that the state planned to route the eastern loop of the Northern Beltway close to their neighbor’s house. The neighbor’s property would just be for green space, they were told, so the Smiths figured they’d get a buyer eventually. Two years later, when they tried to sell again, their real estate agent told them that the road had moved. Now it would run right through their house.
By Phillip Bantz
Published: January 20,2012
A provision tucked inside the S.C. Fairness in Civil Justice Act of 2011 quietly became law earlier this month, and is expected to reduce the number of personal injury lawsuits filed in the state’s courts. The law took effect Jan. 1 as part of the tort reform bill and requires auto insurers that may be liable to pay any part of a claim to disclose coverage limits to plaintiffs prior to the filing of a lawsuit. Plaintiffs seeking the information must first file a certified written request that includes the accident report tied to their claims. Insurers have 30 days to reply. Defense litigator Jack D. Griffeth (pictured) of Collins & Lacy in Greenville said the disclosure law is not particularly bad news for the insurers he often represents, as long as they stay in compliance with the new criteria.
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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 [...]
