North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Warning: a new Letter of Warning may be coming your way soon. In the latest attempt to square away disciplinary procedures, a State Bar committee has proposed that a ‘Letter of Warning’ be added to the options the Grievance Committee ...

A woman can bring a damage suit in Superior Court even though she dismissed the same claim in federal court a year earlier and allowed the statute of limitations to run in the interim, the Supreme Court ruled April 3. ...

Plaintiffs who wish to voluntarily dismiss civil actions should be aware of certain limitations contained in Rule 41, one expert warns. G.S. 1A-1, Rule 41 allows a plaintiff to voluntarily dismiss a suit and refile it within one year without ...

A Senate bill to shorten the time frame for creditors to file claims against decedent’s estates is drawing mixed reactions from lawyers. Under Senate Bill 399, creditors would have three months to submit claims against the estate of a decedent. ...

Even though an underinsured motorist recovery must be reduced by any workers’ compensation benefits a wreck victim might get, it cannot be cut by more than the net benefits paid to the victim, the Court of Appeals decided last week. ...

Tort claims of lost society and companionship are meeting with mixed results in North Carolina, and lawyers say the area is in fast flux. One category of lost society claims ‘ loss of spousal consortium ‘ is thriving. In a ...

A Charlotte lawyer who failed to pursue underinsured motorist coverage and instead settled a personal injury case without his client’s knowledge is subject to punitive damages, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled. The case is Patrick v. Williams ...

Even though a promissory note called for an attorney’s fee of 15 percent if the borrower defaulted, the attorney that collected the fee had to prove it was reasonable, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled April 2. The case ...

The families of two 20 year-olds killed in a Carolina Beach motel fire have been awarded $1.45 million, including $358,000 in punitives, in a New Hanover Superior Court jury trial held late last month. The consolidated cases are Vassallo v ...

Should North Carolina lawyers be required to take a five hour CLE course on professionalism? That question was put to the state’s lawyers at a March 22 public hearing held by the State Bar Professionalism committee. While the substance of ...