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Corporate – Merger – Civil Practice – Pleadings Amendment – Relation Back – Real Party in Interest – Intellectual Property – Patent Application – Tort/Negligence – Attorneys – Legal Malpractice
Revolutionary Concepts, Inc. v. Clements Walker PLLC Although an inventor had assigned his patent rights to a Nevada corporation, a North Carolina corporation hired the defendant-law firm to apply for the patents. The Nevada corporation filed this action to assert its rights as assignee. Subsequently, the two corporations merged, with the Nevada corporation being the surviving entity. The[...]
Attorneys – Tort/Negligence – Legal Malpractice – Civil Practice – Collateral Estoppel – Statute of Limitations
Royster v. McNamara In a prior fraud case against the current plaintiff — Kevin Royster — and other employees in a family business, the family’s motion for a new trial was denied, and this court affirmed the denial. However, in the fraud case, both the jury instructions and the new trial motion applied to the family as a group and not to Mr. Royster individually. There was evidence [...]
Attorneys – Tort/Negligence – Legal Malpractice – Civil Practice – Election of Remedies – Settled Claims
Danius v. Rodgers Even though the plaintiff-clients allege that the defendant-attorney’s negligence caused them to settle their claims against third parties for less than those claims would have otherwise been worth, the clients’ settlement of those claims constitutes an election of remedies and bars their claims against the attorney. We affirm summary judgment for defendants.
Attorneys – Tort/Negligence – Legal Malpractice – Landlord/Tenant – Commercial Leases – S.C. Tax Law
Marion Partners, LLC v. Weatherspoon & Voltz, LLP Hiring a lawyer did not relieve the plaintiff-landlords of the duty to read their lease, especially when the lawyer asked them to read the lease and told them changes had been made. We affirm summary judgment for defendant.
Attorneys – Tort/Negligence – Legal Malpractice – Civil Practice – Statute of Limitations – Real Property
Bodie Island Beach Club Association, Inc. v. Dixon Even though, within the three-year statute of limitations, the defendant-attorney allegedly failed to correct previous misrepresentations, a claim for legal malpractice accrues at the time of the attorney’s last affirmative act, not when the attorney fails to act or when the client suffers damages.
Civil Practice – Appeals – Interlocutory – Attorneys – Tort/Negligence – Legal Malpractice – Intellectual Property – Foreign Patents – Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Revolutionary Concepts, Inc. v. Clements Walker, PLLC Plaintiffs; legal malpractice claim against defendants alleges that defendants’ actions prevented plaintiffs from obtaining foreign patents, not a U.S. patent; therefore, this case does not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal courts. Even if an unsuccessful challenge to subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.[...]
SC Firm: State lags in insurance for legal malpractice
The scenario sounds improbably bleak, but legal malpractice lawyers Ronnie Richter and Eric Bland swear it can happen to anyone whose attorney practices without the protection of malpractice insurance. They say it has happened in South Carolina, and will continue unless the state's lawyers accept full responsibility for protecting their clients: After an accident, a client both files a perso[...]
Legal malpractice checkup
Charles Putterman and Tommy Odom disagree on requiring attorneys to report whether they carry malpractice insurance, but both agree that attorneys should carry it. "Absolutely," Putterman, of Raleigh, said. Both lawyers have seen firsthand the harm clients can suffer as a result of malpractice, and both have represented clients suing uninsured lawyers. Dan Zureich, (pictured) president and CE[...]
Accidental bigamist’s malpractice suit against lawyer time-barred
By PAUL THARP, Staff Writer [email protected] When John M. Button Jr. asked his attorney if he could get remarried on Memorial Day in 2008, the attorney, John N. McClain Jr., allegedly […]
Attorneys – Tort/Negligence – Legal Malpractice Claim – Statutes of Limitations & Repose – Domestic Relations – Divorce
Button v. McKnight. After the client's first wife filed a motion in 2008 for relief from their 2005 divorce judgment, attorney McClain from the defendant-law firm allegedly assured the client that his . . .
Attorneys – Tort/Negligence – Legal Malpractice – Standard of Care – Statute of Limitations – Damages
Chase Development Group v. Fisher, Clinard & Cornwell, PLLC. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-07-0395, 22 pp.) (Sanford L. Steelman Jr., J.) Appealed from Guilford County Superior Court (Catherine C. Eagles, J.). […]
Attorneys – Tort/Negligence – Legal Malpractice Claim – Standard of Care – Ethics Professor – Professional Conduct Rules – Breach of Fiduciary Duty – Interference With Prospective Economic Advantage
Inland American Winston Hotels, Inc. v. Winston. An ethics professor who has no experience in commercial real estate and who has never been licensed to practice in North Carolina is not qualified to testify as to the standard of care applicable to the . . .
Legal Tech
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Top Legal News
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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
