Free Newsletter
Civil Practice – Summary Judgment – LLC Distributions – Premature Motion
Plaintiffs, minority members of a limited liability company, allege that the defendant-managing member has taken excess distributions from the LLC while withholding distributions due to plaintiffs. Discovery remains pending, information from plaintiffs’ expert was conveyed by way of an unsworn letter, plaintiffs’ affidavits admit they lack information about the exact dates and amounts of distr[...]
Insurance – Life – STOLI Policy – Insured’s Options
Even though the insured agreed to buy insurance on his own life simply as a means of making money on the sale of the policy to a stranger, since the insured always had the option of retaining the policy, the policy was not an illegal wagering contract on human life. The life insurance policy issued […]
Antitrust – Monopoly Maintenance & Leveraging – Hospital System – Inpatient & Outpatient Care – Surrounding Area
Plaintiffs allege that, even if hospital-system defendants obtained their Asheville-area inpatient-care monopoly legally (largely via the now-repealed Certificate of Public Advantage law), defendants illegally coerced health insurers into including anti-steering provisions in their policies in order to maintain defendants’ monopoly in the “Asheville Region Inpatient Services Market.” Plainti[...]
Partnerships – Joint Venture – Real Property – Purchase & Sale
Even though plaintiffs have not alleged that they agreed to share in the losses of their partnership/joint venture with defendant Barfield, they have alleged that they agreed to be partners in the buying, holding, operation and sale of real property, and to split profits and share proceeds. At the judgment-on-the-pleadings stage, plaintiffs’ allegations are sufficient […]
Tort/Negligence – Breach of Fiduciary Duty – Insurance Agent – Ghost Policies – Contract – Merger & Shareholder Agreements
Defendants argue that plaintiff, as an officer of the defendant-agency, breached his fiduciary duty to the agency by issuing false certificates of insurance (COIs). However, plaintiff explains that he issued the false COIs in what he believed was the best interest of the agency. Consequently, there is a genuine issue as to whether plaintiff breached […]
Labor & Employment – Contract – Restrictive Covenants – Overbroad – Misappropriation of Trade Secrets
In the context of a covenant not to compete, legitimate business interests include protecting the goodwill that arises from a former employee’s contacts with customers and safeguarding the confidential information to which the former employee had access. Here however, the covenant between plaintiff and defendant Gibson – plaintiff’s former employee – is not sufficiently tailored […]
Civil Practice – Pleadings – Linking Plaintiffs to Claims
In their 84-page complaint, multiple plaintiffs bring claims against multiple defendants. The first 77 pages allege many facts in support of these claims; however, the last seven pages are vague as to which claims belong to which plaintiffs. Although defendants have moved to dismiss, the court deems it more appropriate to require plaintiffs to amend […]
Civil Practice – Expert Witness – Dismissed Claims
Plaintiff’s proffered damages expert, Scott Barnes, bases his opinions on claims that were dismissed at the summary judgment stage. Such opinions are inherently irrelevant. The court grants defendants’ motion to exclude Barnes’ report and to limit plaintiff’s evidence of damages. The court also grants plaintiff’s motion to exclude defendants’ expert witness. Plaintiff had 18 months [&h[...]
Tort/Negligence – Misappropriation of Trade Secrets – Compilation – Customer Information
The plaintiff-mortgage company alleges that its spreadsheet of information about past, present and future clients constitutes a trade secret. Although some of this information might be shared with third parties or might otherwise be in the public domain, plaintiff alleges that, over years of doing business, it has expended effort in compiling the particular information […]
Contract – Shipwreck Salvage – Media Rights – Administrative – Separate Permit
The plaintiff-salvage company argues that, after it spend a decade locating the wreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the parties entered into a contract (the 2013 Agreement) to govern the treatment of the digital media and other matters related to the QAR but that the defendant-agency ignored the terms of the 2013 Agreement and cut […]
Contract – Real Property Development – LLC Operating Agreement
Even though individual defendant Crider is not a party to plaintiff Mary Annette, LLC’s operating agreement, defendants’ breach of contract counterclaim concerns an alleged breach, not of the Mary Annette operating agreement, but of an alleged oral agreement relating to capital funding of Mary Annette and development of the disputed real property that Crider transferred […]
Civil Practice – Default – Motion to Set Aside – Pro Se Litigant – Inattention
The court finds unconvincing defendant’s explanation that he did not attend to his obligations as a pro se party because he was on the verge of bankruptcy—such a condition is not an excuse for failure to comply with governing rules. As a pro se litigant, defendant was bound to be aware of and abide by […]
Top Legal News
- Catesha Hargro: Finding pathways forward
- Cooper vetoes bill over control of election boards
- Judge dismisses state lawmaker’s defamation suit
- 5th Circuit blocks Louisiana redistricting hearings
- Bonnie Keen: Charting her own course
- Courts’ work will continue amid government shutdown
- NC lawmakers to redraw district maps again
- Mississippi activists ask to join water lawsuit
- State judge blocks gender-affirming care ban
- Menendez pleads not guilty in wide-ranging corruption case
- Lawyer in Trump-Russia probe confirmed for Connecticut high court
- Commercial vehicle crash claims life of wife, mother: $3.99 million settlement
Commentary
- Amotion sees resurgence after almost a decade
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Court’s term was rough on big business
- Ex-president, bar association have made their choice
- Ruling sharpens boundaries in attorney-client privilege
- Lawyers Weekly debuts new and improved web experience
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
- Supreme Court leaves key internet protection untouched
- Case study: North Carolina courts provide guidance on scope, limitations of attorney-client privilege
- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work
- A roadmap to attracting, developing, retaining great associates
