North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Where an insurance agent mistakenly told a policy holder that his wife was his beneficiary, she may sue for negligent misrepresentation, the Supreme Court ruled April 8. The case is Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance Company v. Spencer, (Lawyers Weekly No. 4-06-0528, ...

Instead of raising property taxes, the city of Charlotte can charge developers a user fee to pay for services ranging from subdivision inspections to driveway permits, the Supreme Court ruled Apr. 8. The ruling reverses a 1993 Court of Appeals ...

A defendant who got two extensions of time from opposing counsel was estopped from dismissing the case for a service defect, the Court of Appeals ruled Apr. 5. The decision shoots down an attempt to spring a procedural trap 54 ...

Even though the trench that caved in on a pipe worker violated OSHA standards, that dangerous condition did not rise to employer misconduct sufficient for a Woodson claim, the Court of Appeals ruled April 5. The case is Dunleavy v. ...

All the Smithfield car dealer wanted was the $54,000 that an employee embezzled from him. Instead, he must pay treble damages of $34,000 for entering into an illegal repayment contract with the embezzler’s parents. The April 5 case is Adams ...

A declaratory judgement action should not have been used to decide whether two documents amended or revoked the probated will of a Catawba County man, the Appeals Court ruled April 5. The case is Rogel v. Johnson (North Carolina Lawyers ...

Two lawyers have been disciplined by the State Bar. David F. Tamer of Winston-Salem has been suspended for three years after he entered into a consent order admitting that he neglected to diligently handle several clients’ cases and misrepresented the ...

Q: How many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: Six. One to screw in the bulb, and five to form the study committee. All kidding aside, the prevalence of lawyer jokes is one indication that ...

An investor who selectively quoted rosy predictions from a portrait studio’s prospectus did not properly allege fraud, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled. The March 18 decision from the state’s western federal district is Camilleri v. American Studios, Inc. ...

Consumers who bought worthless extended warranties, then lost them when an appliance store went bankrupt, should get a bigger slice of the debtor’s estate than general unsecured creditors, a U.S. Bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District has ruled. The reason: ...