North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

In a case of first impression, the Appeals Court has ruled that attorneys may not be sanctioned under Rule 45 for issuing overly broad subpoenas. Rule 45 authorizes courts to impose sanctions when subpoenas are determined to be unwarranted, but ...

An allegedly slanderous remark made by a witness to a lawyer during a pre-trial conference is absolutely privileged, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled. The case is Rickenbacker v. Coffey (North Carolina Lawyers Weekly No. NA944 – 8 ...

The presumptive child support guidelines have been fine-tuned and three revisions will take effect Aug. 1. The child support obligations of parents with low incomes will increase. When setting support payments, judges will be allowed to choose whether or not ...

Where the United States Postal Service, ignoring an automatic stay of collection efforts, garnished an employee’s paycheck, the employee may sue for attorney fees and monetary damages, including punitive damages. So ruled a federal bankruptcy court judge in a case ...

Even though a worker and his employer signed a final settlement agreement, the case can be reopened to provide funds for rehabilitation therapy, the Industrial Commission has ruled. This is so, the Industrial Commission said, because the need for therapy ...

A railroad worker struck by a train at a ‘blind’ crossing has been awarded $13.6 million by a federal jury. The case is Dixon v. CSX Transportation, Inc., et. al. (C-C-88-533-M). The trial concluded June 19 in U.S. Western District ...

North Carolina Courts have not established a bad faith exception to the employment at-will doctrine, according to a ruling handed down by U.S. Eastern District Judge Franklin T. Dupree. The decision came after a whistleblower at a nuclear plant attempted ...

Even though a path across a sandy beach tract was vague and ill-defined, a jury could find its identity was substantial enough to satisfy the criteria for an easement by prescription, the North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled. This is ...

Even though a land sales agreement was so indefinite it violated the statute of frauds, it could still be enforced in equity because the seller believed it was valid and relied on it to his detriment, the Supreme Court has ...

A compromise bill that would wipe out intrapolicy stacking of UM/UIM provisions but leave interpolicy stacking intact is gaining momentum in the General Assembly. Sen. Alexander P. ‘Sandy’ Sands III, D-Rockingham, the bill’s sponsor, said he introduced the legislation to ...