A sailboat owner kept ashore while his 41-foot craft was being repaired after Hurricane Irene settled with the boatyard where it was stored for $150,000 after claiming loss of use. Bill Combs lost the use of his sailboat for one ...

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Pippens v. May The evidence would support inferences that (1) plaintiff and his wheelchair were obscured from the defendant-driver’s view by bushes and (2) plaintiff moved his wheelchair into the path of defendant’s car. Therefore, the evidence supports the jury’s verdict in defendant’s favor. We reverse the trial court’s grant of plaintiff’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

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A Charlotte couple who lost their unborn child when their car was hit by a drunk driver has won a $1.63 million verdict against the restaurant that served the driver—and social media, along with a little detective work, played a crucial role in finding the evidence that carried the case.

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In late December, Circuit Court Judge Roger Couch finalized a $327 million verdict against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson for the way it marketed its antipsychotic drug, Risperdal. On or about the same day, he also gave another drug maker, AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical, the green light to move forward with a challenge to South Carolina’s action against the company for the marketing of its own antipsychotic drug, Seroquel, on the grounds that the state attorney general’s office had compromised its independence in pursuing the case.

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A jury in Buncombe County awarded Venezuelan native Wilson Aponte and his company $8.7 million after finding that Dove Air Inc. and its president breached a contract with Aponte for the purchase of a Cessna jet. The jury awarded Aponte $2,922,353. The damages were trebled because the jury found that Aponte was damaged by the fraud of Dove Air and Joseph W. Duncan, the company’s owner and president. The 2009 deal, negotiated by an intermediary, was for Aponte to pay Dove Air $2.2 million in exchange for a Cessna Citation III. Aponte paid in full, but Dove Air hedged on giving over the plane. When it finally did, the plane came with an unexpected hitch: a $2.3 million lien in favor of Cessna Finance Corporation. That wasn’t part of the deal. The contract provided that the plane would be transferred free of any liens or charges.

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A rift between the national Alzheimer’s Association and its North Carolina chapter has resulted in a favorable arbitration award for Alzheimers North Carolina. A consent order filed in the Wake County Superior Court on June 9 confirmed the arbitration decision. The national organization had sought to recover $1.12 million in fundraising dollars and assets. But a panel of arbitrators decided Alzheimers North Carolina could keep all of its assets. The panel also ordered the national organization to pay $271,322 in arbitration fees and costs, including 50 percent of the local chapter’s attorneys’ fees.

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