A husband and wife who contracted AIDS through a 1985 blood transfusion have reached a confidential settlement with the American Red Cross after its motion for summary judgment failed. The case, Doe v. American National Red Cross, filed in North ...
Read More »Red Cross AIDS Case Settles
Student Trainee Is Employee For Comp Purposes 
A community college student injured at the hospital where he was receiving on-the-job training is covered by workers’ compensation, the state Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 15. This is so even though he wasn’t paid for his work and was ...
Read More »Other 'Quasi- Employee' Cases 
In Ryles v. Durham County Hospital, the Appeals Court said a hospital trainee qualified as an employee for purposes of the Workers’ Compensation Act. The ruling follows a growing string of court decisions that have extended workers’ compensation coverage to ...
Read More »Rule 60 Clause Is Interpreted 
What sort of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ are required to set aside a consent judgment? Some clues are provided in a Sept. 15 ruling by the Court of Appeals, Thacker v. Thacker (North Carolina Lawyers Weekly No. NA01290 – 7 pages). At ...
Read More »Money For Pain & Suffering Is Wife's Separate Property 
A personal injury settlement that compensated a wife for her pain and suffering is separate property and is not subject to equitable distribution, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 15. This is so even though she deposited the funds ...
Read More »Stacking:Where Are We Now? 
In the wake of sweeping statutory changes and a string of court rulings, where are the remaining battlegrounds in UM/UIM stacking? Lawyers Weekly posed that question to several experts in the field, who identified three likely areas of activity: Statutory ...
Read More »James Resigns From State Bar 
Bobby E. James, the State Bar’s long-time executive director, has resigned his position, effective last Wednesday. In a brief statement issued last week, James said he was tendering his resignation with ‘deep regret.’ He said personal reasons were behind his ...
Read More »Ruling Clears The Way For Social Host Liability 
The door to social host liability for alcohol-related accidents has been opened in a Sept. 4 opinion from the state Supreme Court. The case is Hart v. Ivey (North Carolina Lawyers Weekly No. NS01250 – 15 pages). Justice John Webb ...
Read More »UM Stacking Is Rejected 
Even as plaintiffs’ lawyers hailed a breakthrough in underinsured (UIM) stacking, the Supreme Court handed down a second opinion prohibiting uninsured (UM) stacking. The case is Lanning v. Allstate Insurance Co. (North Carolina Lawyers Weekly No. NS01262 – 13 pages). ...
Read More »Stacking:Where Are We Now? 
In the wake of sweeping statutory changes and a string of court rulings, where are the remaining battlegrounds in UM/UIM stacking? Lawyers Weekly posed that question to several experts in the field, who identified three likely areas of activity: Statutory ...
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