North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

A petitioner filed her “innocent spouse” tax claim one week late because IRS representatives allegedly misinformed her of the filing deadline, but the U.S. Tax Court had no authority to waive compliance. Background The IRS charged Shari and Derek Nauflett ...

Tagged with: jurisdiction

Animal rights groups sufficiently alleged an injury-in-fact to support their standing to challenge a recent North Carolina statute allowing employers to hold their employees civilly liable for damage caused by unauthorized access to nonpublic areas. Background The North Carolina Property ...

Tagged with: PETA

A defendant waived his right to appeal an award of $100,000 restitution to his child victim, but the district court’s reasons for denying restitution to other, non-contact victims contradicted U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Background Appellant Mario Dillard used computer programs ...

Tagged with: Child Pornography

The district court considering revocation of supervised release correctly determined that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the defendant’s challenge to the constitutionality of his underlying sentence. And based on the nature of the defendant’s threats to his family members and ...

Tagged with: Hearing

After prevailing on a prior motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, the defendant was resentenced but improperly designated as a career offender. This incorrect designation led to application of the wrong version of the Guidelines Manual to determine his Guidelines ...

Tagged with: career offender

Under clearly established law, publication of public safety officers’ allegedly defamatory termination letters to the media before holding a name-clearing hearing supported the officers’ claims of due process violations. Background During the summer of 2014, Officers with the Bald Head ...

Tagged with: Police Officer

Attorneys’ “egregious” conduct was designed to, and did, mislead the district court, the 4th Circuit affirmed. They challenged the authenticity of a loan agreement for two years before revealing that they possessed an identical copy, obtained from their client, before ...

Tagged with: sanctions

A plaintiff who was owed a medical-malpractice judgment that would partially be reimbursed to Medicare had standing to sue the judgment debtor for delayed payment. However, the 37 days between the judgment and payment did not constitute “delay.” Background In ...

Tagged with: Medicare

It was not arbitrary or capricious for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to reject special immigrant juvenile status for Salvadoran girl on the basis of a state court order that lacked a factual basis for permanent custody with her father ...

Tagged with: USCIS

The district court’s full jury instructions on mutual assent were a correct statement of Virginia law and not in error. Background Appellants Knox Energy LLC and Consol Energy Inc. filed this action seeking declaratory judgment that a drilling contract with ...

Tagged with: Execution