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Banks & Banking – FIRREA – Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies – First Impression — FDIC Receivership – Purchase – Tort/Negligence — Real Property – Breach of Contract
Front Street Construction, LLC v. Colonial Bank, N.A. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), as receiver for failed bank Colonial Bank, N.A., entered into a purchase and assumption agreement (PAA) with Branch Banking and Trust Co. Some of plaintiffs’ claims against BB&T arose from acts or omissions by Colonial and were not addressed in the PAA. As to those claims, plaintiffs must [...]
Tort/Negligence – Fraud – Civil Practice – Standing – Bankruptcy – Labor & Employment – Breach of Contract – Personal Jurisdiction
Stec v. Fuzion Investment Capital, LLC Where plaintiff’s fraud claim is based on acts that allegedly occurred prior to the filing of his bankruptcy petition, the acts supporting plaintiff’s fraud claim are rooted in plaintiff’s pre-petition activities and are the property of the bankruptcy estate. Therefore, plaintiff lacks standing to bring his fraud claim.
Civil Practice – Statute of Limitations – Pleadings – Amendment – Relation Back – Breach of Contract
Kearney v. Barker Plaintiff made it clear that his original complaint was intended to sue only the father, Phillip Junior Barker, and not the son, Phillip Renard Barker. After the statute of limitations had run, plaintiff filed an amended complaint adding the son as a defendant.
Tort/Negligence – Breach of Contract – Civil Practice – Statute of Limitations – Personal Jurisdiction – Corporate Subsidiary — Fraud – Unfair Trade Practices — Cemetery
Birtha v. Stonemor, North Carolina, LLC Plaintiffs allege that defendants misplaced their deceased loved ones’ headstones and/or remains. Plaintiffs have cited no authority to suggest that these alleged acts amount to a continually recurring violation as opposed to the continued ill effects from an original violation; therefore, the continuing wrong doctrine does not apply to toll the s[...]
Real Property – Breach of Contract – Tort/Negligence – Fraud – Unfair Trade Practices – Hazardous Materials – Monitoring Wells
Metropolitan Group, Inc. v. Meridian Industries The defendant-seller covenanted that it had no “actual knowledge” of the presence or disposal of asbestos, fuel oil, or other hazardous or toxic substances on the land it was selling. The parties’ purchase agreement defines “actual knowledge” as “the current, actual conscious knowledge of the officers and employees of Meridian Dy[...]
Civil Practice – Appeals – Interlocutory – Res Judicata – Texas & Kentucky Lawsuits – Breach of Contract – Covenant Not to Compete
Heritage Operating, L.P. v. N.C. Propane Exchange, LLC Even though plaintiff has filed suit in other states against some of the same individual defendants alleging breach of the same covenant not to compete, each action involves the formation, financing, and operation of a different company that does business solely in the state in which the action was brought. Whether the parties’ non-[...]
Labor & Employment – Breach of Contract – Damages – Salary – Civil Practice – Pleadings – Supplementation – Relation Back
Panos v. Timco Engine Center, Inc. The parties’ employment contract provided that, if defendant fired plaintiff without cause, defendant would be required to pay plaintiff’s salary for a year following his termination. When plaintiff filed his complaint, only three months had passed. Even though more than three years had elapsed when plaintiff moved to amend his complaint to seek the [...]
Domestic Relations – Separation Agreement & Property – Settlement – Car Loan – Breach of Contract – Indemnification
Nix v. Nix Although the defendant-wife did not obtain the advice of counsel before she signed the parties’ separation agreement and property settlement (SAPS), she had the opportunity to do so during the several months she held on to the SAPS prior to signing it. Moreover, she accepted the child support that the plaintiff-husband paid pursuant to the SAPS, implicitly acknowledging that [...]
Tort/Negligence – Misappropriation of Proprietary Confidential Information – Damages — Labor & Employment – Breach of Contract – Non-Disclosure Clause – Civil Practice – Evidence — Discovery
Edgewater Services, Inc. v. Epic Logistics, Inc. Evidence tracking 10 common customers, showing the decline in the corporate plaintiff’s profits and the concomitant climb in the corporate defendant’s profits, was sufficient to support the jury’s award of damages equal to the change in profits. We affirm judgment for plaintiffs in the amount of $70,001.
Landlord/Tenant – Commercial Lease – Fish Ponds – Breach of Contract – Damages – Material Terms
Allison v. Davidson Any connection between the defendant-landlord’s interference with the plaintiff-tenant’s fishing operation and an award of damages for lost profits for the remaining 13 years of the lease was far too speculative to support an award of several hundred thousand dollars in damages. The landlord is entitled to a new trial on the issue of damages.
Real Property – Breach of Contract – Attorney’s Fees – Damages
Robinson v. Hope Attorney’s fees incurred as a result of the alleged wrongdoings of real estate agents cannot be recovered since (1) this would effectively erode the long-standing rule in North Carolina that attorneys’ fees are not recoverable as an item of damages absent statutory authority for such an award and (2) there is no meaningful distinction between real estate agents and ot[...]
Intellectual Property – Trade Secrets Misappropriation Claim – Disclosure – Patents – Different Fields – Breach of Contract – Confidentiality — Tort/Negligence
SCR-Tech LLC v. Evonik Energy Services LLC Plaintiff and others have published the general steps involved in plaintiff’s process for cleaning and regenerating the catalysts used by coal plants to remove harmful constituents from their exhaust; therefore, the general steps are not trade secrets. However, there are questions of fact as to whether some of the specific steps in plaintiff’[...]
Legal Tech
- How ransomware tactics against law firms are changing
- How large language models are leveling the personal injury playing field
- Attorney Share, Lawmatics integrate to automate law firm referrals
Top Legal News
- Legally Speaking: How communication failures turn disputes into lawsuits
- AG Jackson refuses to sign Duke Energy rate settlement
- Fraud counterclaims fail in dispute over company restructuring
- Judges’ pick for Seattle’s federal prosecutor sues Trump after ouster
- US judge approves Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement of copyright lawsuit
- The legal confusion surrounding e-bikes
- Two Charlotte women file federal claims against immigration agents after Operation Charlotte’s Web arrests
Commentary
- Legally Speaking: How communication failures turn disputes into lawsuits
- We tore out our own backup generator
- When is a PIP an adverse employment action?
- Legally Speaking: What spring can teach us about active listening
- A useful patent management government notice
- Opinion: NC judges have enormous power. Be sure to vote in November
- The third option: Why your best employees are quietly losing their edge
- AI divorce is real, but family law can still save itself
