When an amended complaint renders the arguments of a motion to dismiss moot, what effect does it have on the public’s ability to view the parties’ filings on the motion? In Karriker v. Harpoon Holdings, L.P., 2023 NCBC 67,...more
Joshua Langley worked for Autocraft, Inc. for more than five years and rose to have wide access to its business affairs and “substantial responsibility for its overall operations.” While still employed there, he opened LB...more
If a company contracts to acquire software which it then licenses to a third party as a component of a lucrative service package, did it “sell” the software? In Value Health Solutions, Inc. v. Pharmaceutical Research...more
A Charlotte area law firm alleged it struck a necessary, and rather ordinary, deal with departing partners to divide fees on contingent cases transitioning among firms based on time expended by each, with an included true up...more
The Business Court recently reminded that while there is great value to showing up and seeing what might happen at mediation, the costs of a decision to avoid the process can be more easily quantified.
In Chi v. N....more
In a litigator’s nightmare, when old wooden floors creak and the house speaks in sinister tones to its owner, it’s not: “Get Out!” that the lawyer hears. It’s: “Your Responses to the Admissions are Late.” Such is the life.
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After a six-day jury trial including evidence of “no show” jobs, questionable “friends and family” payroll slots, and allegations of fraud and embezzlement, a Mecklenburg County jury returned a $3-million-plus verdict for the...more
An employee trading places among industry competitors allegedly provided his new employer with bidding and pricing information so critical that the receiving company’s CEO thought it was a “gold mine” it could use “to...more
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
Jesse Shaver alleges that a founder and CEO of Raleigh-based defense contractor Vadum, Inc., “tricked him into losing his right to equity” in the company. In Shaver v. Walker, 2023 NCBC 27, he claimed that Aaron Walker and...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
When a party has a second chance for its experts to make a first impression on a court, it’s best to not plan on there being a third.
In Vitaform, Inc. v. Aeroflow, Inc.¸ 2023 NCBC 20A, the Business Court afforded...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
The Palmetto Medical Group had a “messy divorce.”
Palmetto’s three physicians had settled into “mutual distrust” and got a good distance down the road toward separation by negotiating a Practice Separation Agreement at...more
Just last year, in assessing the extent to which a director has a duty to oversee a corporation’s business affairs, the Business Court noted the “limited guidance” afforded by state statutes and case law. In Lee v. McDowell,...more
If the Federal Trade Commission has its way, litigation fights like the one between IQVIA, Inc. and Circuit Clinical Solutions, Inc. over the job switch of executive Dana Edwards will soon be a distant legal memory. In...more
Mary Hartsell is a nurse practitioner who joined Mindpath Care Centers, North Carolina, PLLC in April 2001 as a member, minority interest holder, and employee. Mindpath provides mental and behavioral care in North Carolina,...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