North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Where plaintiff Lunsford and his original company (“Old JBL”) sold their business to defendant (“New JBL”), the covenants not to compete set out in the sale contracts are not overbroad when they bar activities that are “directly competitive” with New ...

Defendant asks the court to reconsider its prior order, in which the court determined that there was a triable issue of fact concerning whether there had been mutual assent between plaintiff and defendant when they entered into an operating agreement. ...

In order to register their antimicrobial products with the Environmental Protection Agency, plaintiffs were required to turn over certain trade secrets to the EPA. Defendants argue that, when information is submitted to the EPA in an application for product registration, ...

Although the plaintiff-investors describe themselves as unsophisticated investors, they either have advanced degrees or significant business experience. Their provision of personal information to the defendant-investment companies did not create a fiduciary relationship, and plaintiffs are bound by their agreements to ...

Plaintiffs allege that they have developed “SEM Strategies”: internet strategies and techniques to optimize the ranking of their websites on internet search results. While defendants appear to argue that all online retailers use the same approach to search engine optimization, ...

The operating agreement of the plaintiff-limited liability company deals with membership withdrawal. It reads, in its entirety, “Buy/Sell. Involuntary withdrawal with cause only.” Plaintiffs admit, and the undisputed evidence shows, that there was no meeting of the minds as to ...

The parties’ independent contractor agreement includes a paragraph addressing the plaintiff-contractor’s right to a bonus if the defendant-company is sold. Since that paragraph can reasonably be read either (1) to preclude such a bonus if plaintiff was not employed by ...

Even though the State of North Carolina is the sole shareholder of the defendant North Carolina Railroad Company, given the General Assembly’s treatment of the NCRR as a private corporation, the court determines that the NCRR is not subject to ...

Even though the elements of an ordinary negligence claim must be met before plaintiffs can satisfy the higher gross negligence standard, plaintiffs’ pleading of a gross negligence claim cannot be read to assert a separate claim for ordinary negligence that ...

After entering into a settlement agreement, but before his performance thereunder—buying out defendants’ interest in their companies—was due, plaintiff learned facts that led him to refuse to perform under the settlement agreement. However, plaintiff could have learned these facts (the ...