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Civil Practice – Interlocutory Appeals – Multiple Defendants – Real Property – Mortgages
The plaintiff-bank sued multiple defendants, seeking to restore a fraudulently extinguished deed of trust, and the defendant-innocent purchasers of the mortgaged property appeal summary judgment entered against them. However, although the bank obtained a default judgment as to its claim for a declaratory judgment against certain defendants, it appears the bank’s claims for monetary relief [&hell[...]
Civil Practice – Service of Process – Certified Mail – Old Address – Contactless Delivery
Defendant presented (1) evidence that, three years before plaintiffs attempted to serve him with process via certified mail, he had sold and vacated the home to which process was delivered and (2) his sworn affidavit that he did not receive the summons and complaint, did not sign the certified mail receipt and no longer owns […]
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[...]
Civil Practice – Involuntary Commitment – Conditional Discharge Revocation – Standard of Proof & Judicial Process
Before revoking the conditional release of an inmate who had been committed due to mental illness, a court must establish a reasoned and logical linkage between the individual’s failure to comply with the conditions of his discharge on the one hand with the finding on the other that “his continued release would create a substantial […]
Civil Practice – Standing – Confederate Monument Removal – County Property
G.S. § 100-2.1 provides the circumstances and manner under which a state-owned “monument, memorial, or work of art” may be removed and relocated. Plaintiffs – including the chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy which raised the funds to install a Confederate monument at the Chatham County courthouse – lack standing to challenge the […]
Civil Practice – Involuntary Commitment – Danger to Self – Psychosis – Medication Noncompliance
Given the abundant evidence – including respondent’s own testimony – that, if released, respondent would cease taking his medications, and given a doctor’s testimony predicting a resultant decompensation, the trial court could find that respondent was a danger to himself. We affirm the trial court’s involuntary commitment order. Dr. Nancy Clayton explained that if respondent […]
Civil Practice – Appeals – Ineffective Notice – Motion for Reconsideration
Because the pro se defendant’s responses to plaintiff’s requests for admissions were 25 days late, the trial court granted summary judgment for plaintiff in the amount of $1,000,000. Defendant’s purported notice of appeal consisted merely of a caption, the words “Notice of Appeal,” two paragraphs arguing why plaintiff had not been damaged, and defendant’s signature. […]
Civil Practice – Nonjusticiable Claims – Attorneys’ Fee Award – Limited Partnership
The plaintiff-limited partners brought direct, individual claims against the defendant-limited partnership and maintained those claims despite the fact that defendant repeatedly pointed out that plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the claims they asserted. Only when defendant sought an award of attorneys’ fees under G.S. § 6-21.5 did plaintiffs argue for an extension of law: Plaintiffs [&hellip[...]
Civil Practice – Personal Jurisdiction – Labor & Employment – Remote Worker’s Relocation
When defendants hired plaintiff for remote work, he lived in California. However, when plaintiff decided to relocate to North Carolina, the corporate defendants supported his move and thereafter both directed his work in North Carolina and benefitted from it. It was also in North Carolina that the corporate defendants allegedly breached plaintiff’s employment agreement by […]
Civil Practice – Pleadings Amendment – Real Property – Window Muntins
When plaintiff moved for leave to amend her complaint on 29 October 2020, (1) two and a half years had passed since plaintiff initiated this action, (2) she had already amended her compliance once nearly two years prior, (3) plaintiff proposed to add a new cause of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress, (4) […]
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 – Pleadings Amendment – Relation Back – Jury Instructions – Insurance – Yacht Repairs
When Judge Louis Trosch allowed plaintiff to amend its complaint under N.C. R. Civ. P. 15(a) to add claims for bad faith and unfair trade practices, the new claim did not “automatically” relate back to the filing date of the complaint under Rule 15(c). In Rule 15(c), a subordinate clause begins with the word “unless,” […]
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