North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

We all know that minor settlements need to be approved by a judge. But try and find the statute or case law requiring this exercise. Speaking objections cannot be made during depositions. But other than a handful of local rules that prohibit the use of speaking objections, try to find binding North Carolina case law or statutory authority that establishes such a rule. And so it is with the issue of employer negligence when plaintiffs move to reduce or strike a workers' compensation lien. Whenever lawyers discuss third-party workplace cases the first question in the conversation typically relates to the amount of the subrogation lien.

Tagged with: Contributory Negligence Negligence Workers Compensation

When Bobby Campbell woke in the recovery room he knew right away that something was wrong. He had just come out of routine surgery on his right shoulder, but now his left arm and elbow were hurting and not working ...

Tagged with: Court of Appeals expert witnesses Medical Malpractice

Commentary “A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.” — H.L. Mencken As we discussed in the first installment in this series, Bobby Campbell is the latest casualty in the war against patients’ rights. Last month ...

For the second time in three years, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has rejected the testimony of a medical expert simply because he considered and relied on circumstantial evidence in forming his opinion. The case is Campbell v. Duke ...

Like the federal rules upon which they were based, the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure were enacted to repair a badly broken civil justice system. That system was a veritable homage to coarse gamesmanship and legal sparring; a system ...

In the wake of the recent explosion at the ConAgra facility in Garner, we are reminded of the devastation that industrial accidents can inflict upon employees and their families. Clearly, workers’ compensation will provide benefits for all employees who were ...

Two mechanics are called into work unexpectedly on the Fourth of July. In an early morning telephone call, their crew leader had explained that a local titanium processing plant was in shutdown mode due to an electrical failure in the ...

Probably the most common question I get from referring attorneys relates to the criteria for screening and identification of workplace-injury claims for potential third-party actions. My short answer is this: There are only three criteria, and they are damages, damages ...

After some 18 years of first defending and now prosecuting third-party workplace claims, I firmly believe for every meritorious third-party workplace injury case that gets filed, at least five equally viable cases die an anonymous death on some dusty file-room ...

With not so much as a whimper, the N.C. Court of Appeals has completely rewritten the law of causation in medical malpractice and nursing home cases. In holding that a plaintiff must prove that a defendant’s negligence is the proximate ...