A dispute between co-owners of a trampoline park in Asheville came before the Business Court, appropriately enough, on defendants’ motion to bounce plaintiffs’ claims regarding misappropriation of funds. In Bivins v....more
While an insurance carrier “labor[ed] valiantly” to rescue claims over $3.1 million in overpayments to a hospital in its network, the Business Court held it failed because the contract at issue “clearly and unambiguously”...more
In one of many litigations to arise from alleged contamination at the Fayetteville Works chemical manufacturing plant, the Business Court recently decided that a “been there, done that” motion to dismiss should not stop the...more
The NC Department of Revenue sought to throw some shade at the financing regimes through which solar farm and other renewable energy projects are built by challenging the flow of tax credits from LLC developers to their...more
“Ray Reason, along with his aunt and uncle, decided to go into business with Gerald Barfield, a family friend who was a real estate developer.”
When that’s a line in a holiday card letter of how the year went, it...more
Adam Downing had a rather ordinary request under North Carolina corporate inspections law. As a shareholder in Cycle Holdings, Inc. he wanted to inspect financial and business records of Cycle Labs, Inc. – a holding of Cycle...more
“You are remembered for the rules you break.” Gen. Douglas MacArthur- First, this is certainly true. Second, when it comes to the exacting nature of the rules for getting a case properly before the North Carolina Business...more
If a court “throws the book” at steadfastly uncooperative litigants, did it really happen if there’s no one around to take the hit? The Business Court tested that “tree falling in the woods” theory in JCG. & Assocs., LLC v....more
When Philip Harvey died in December 2021 he owned more than 400 shares of common capital stock in PHE, Inc., a Hillsborough, North Carolina-based business that sells sexual wellness products and sex toys through a website and...more
Charles McNew was injured in a fall at his home in June 2021, and subsequently treated at the Fletcher Hospital emergency room in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Three months later he claims to have suffered an injury of a...more
A targeted effort by a New York company and its president to recruit Chinese investors for a marina and hotel project in Wilmington, North Carolina brought an international spin to one of the Business Court’s regular...more
A business plan to promote vodka sales in North Carolina, with a particular focus on Duke University sports fans, was key to a North Carolina Business Court decision that GameDay Vodka had sufficient contacts with the state...more
For the golf fan curious about the finances and back-office maneuvering of “Big Golf,” nothing has been better than the LIV Golf-PGA Tour throwdown played out in dueling press conferences, snippy tweets, and Saudi-funded...more
Robert Martin was the president of a medical device company, Vent Tech Corporation, during times that the company alleges he embezzled funds and through lax oversight allowed the company to be “pillaged” by its former CFO....more
Wary of the old maxim about giving inches and losing miles, the North Carolina Department of Revenue appealed an Office of Administrative Hearings decision that favored a taxpayer by $371. In N.C. Dep’t of Revenue v. Clifton,...more
Facing a $12.8 million judgment, a plaintiff sought recourse in a legal malpractice claim against his trial counsel for its alleged role in that unhappy result. But his undoing was the Business Court’s focus on whether he...more
6/21/2022
/ Attorney Malpractice ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Court ,
Cash Transactions ,
Damages ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Non-Payment Clauses ,
Personal Liability ,
Proximate Cause ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In Oliver v. Brown & Morrison, Ltd., 2022 NCBC 16, the Business Court weighed a challenge to an allegedly “sprawling, 247-paragraph Complaint, largely padded by needless detail” that defendants claimed violated Rule 8(a)’s...more
An intra-congregational dispute over control of church bank accounts led the Wakefield Missionary Baptist Church to a schism that forced out a senior pastor, saw church doors locked, and resulted in competing factions...more
As failed commercial property deals go, the one at the heart of Miriam Equities, LLC v. LB-UBS-2007-C2 Millstream Road LLC, 2022 NCBC 3, was not outside the norm for a Business Court transaction autopsy. There was a missed...more
5/12/2022
/ As-Is Clauses ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Auction ,
Breach of Contract ,
Business Court ,
Commercial Real Estate Contracts ,
Discovery ,
Inspections ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Pre-Closing Issues ,
Property ,
Property Access
The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled recently that a company’s allegedly fraudulent efforts to raise capital from outside investors can avoid sanction as an unfair or deceptive trade practice because the conduct is not...more
Longtime college basketball commentator Billy Packer is credited with one of the better Yogi Berra-isms in NCAA hoops lore: “This is going to be a long three minutes here.” And that’s about how long it took for litigation...more
In 2017, British American Tobacco (BAT) purchased a North Carolina-based tobacco company, Reynolds American Inc., for $49 billion. The deal allowed BAT to acquire the 57.8% of Reynolds it didn’t already own and brought many...more
Amidst a “bitter family dispute” over future control of a closely held oil company, can the same law firm represent the directors paving the way for their son to take the reins and the company that minority shareholders seek...more
Discord within a faith community comes with all the challenges of a secular dispute, but carries with it the special responsibility that members of a congregation share in a collective spiritual undertaking. Yet, there are...more
When a motion for reconsideration hearing features a plaintiff’s accusation that the court made arguments for the other side, the effort to flip a prior ruling – already a tough get – has gone a bit off the rails. In Bayport...more