North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

News April 21, 2011

DAs’ PowerPoint budget presentation piques defense lawyers

Lawyers at Indigent Defense Services, the agency that provides representation to criminal defendants who can't afford attorneys, are fuming over claims by the state's prosecutors that the prosecution is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to state funding. The feud was sparked by a PowerPoint presentation given to legislators by the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys last month. Du[...]

News April 15, 2011

Bills would bring sweeping changes to workers’ comp system

North Carolina's workers' compensation system has been around since the late 1920s. Every few decades it gets a bit of an overhaul, with the last one coming 15 years ago. But the renovations anticipated in a Republican-backed bill under consideration in the General Assembly could lead to seismic changes in the system, which is designed to make injured workers whole and prevent lawsuits against emp[...]

News April 8, 2011

NC Central law in top 10 for accepted students who enroll

North Carolina Central University School of Law has been named one of the nation's 10 "most popular" law schools in a ranking released by U.S. News & World Report last week. The listing is based on an analysis of admission yield - the percentage of students accepted by a school who choose to enroll. In the rankings compiled for 2010, Central's law school placed ninth, with a yield of 49.6 perc[...]

News April 8, 2011

Perdue order creates panel, cedes power for judge picks

Saying "this is history," Gov. Bev Perdue signed an executive order last week that will establish a nominating commission to screen candidates for consideration when judicial vacancies come open. "You've seen a page turned in the North Carolina judiciary," Perdue said after she signed the bill, flanked by seven former N.C. Supreme Court justices and chief justices from both parties. The order ta[...]

News April 8, 2011

Lawmakers tackle comp, continue debate on tort reform

By SYLVIA ADCOCK, Staff Writer [email protected] Lawmakers last week continued to consider sweeping changes in the state’s tort system and got their first look at a bill that would […]

News April 6, 2011

February bar exam pass rate up 3% over 2010

The ranks of North Carolina's attorneys swelled by 254 this month as the results of the mid-year bar exam given in February were announced. A total of 426 would-be N.C. lawyers took the test, with 59.6 percent passing, an increase over last year's passing rate of 56.3 percent on the mid-year exam. As is often the case, the first-timers did better, with repeat takers having a lesser chance of succe[...]

News April 1, 2011

Bill would insert committee into judicial elections

A measure introduced in the General Assembly last week would create a hybrid system of selecting judges that would combine a screening committee with elections by the public - the first system of its kind in the nation. The legislation was crafted by the NCBA Committee for Judicial Independence, co-chaired by former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Exum and John Wester (pictured), past preside[...]

News April 1, 2011

Regulators’ nod would bar liability for products

A sweeping tort-reform bill that would have the effect of preventing product-liability lawsuits in cases where the product got a stamp of approval from government regulators was formally introduced in the state House this week. At a packed hearing, Greensboro attorney Janet Ward Black (pictured) said the product-liability provision in the bill would be the most plaintiff-unfriendly in the country.[...]

News March 25, 2011

Where immigration law meets family law

On Thursdays, a telephone at the Legal Aid of North Carolina office in Raleigh rings off the hook. The callers aren't the usual questioners who might need help with things like foreclosures or consumer-protection issues. This is Legal Aid's Battered Immigrant Project, a highly focused area where the intersection of immigration law and family law helps address the specific needs of immigrant wome[...]

News March 25, 2011

Separating Together offers a different kind of divorce

The table in the conference room down the hall from Mark Springfield's office is round. Not oval. Not oblong with round edges. Completely round. "There's no position of power," said Springfield, taking a seat. Springfield's practice of collaborative divorce sets him apart from the traditional adversarial-style attorney who practices family law.

News March 25, 2011

Bill: FDA approval would bar drug liability claims

In what plaintiffs' lawyers are calling a "radical" move, House Republicans are pushing for a measure that would give immunity in products-liability cases to pharmaceutical manufacturers so long as a drug was approved by the Federal Drug Administration. The provision says that no manufacturer or seller shall be held liable in a products-liability action so long as the product was designed, manufac[...]

News March 18, 2011

Lay ownership of firms under ‘discussion’

Non-lawyers would be allowed ownership in professional corporation law firms - something State Bar rules expressly forbid - under a bill now under consideration in the N.C. Senate. State Bar officials said they have not had a chance to analyze the bill or to make a decision on whether to take a position. But Tom Lunsford, the Bar's executive director, said, "It's a matter of concern to us, and we'[...]