We cover a broad range of topics in this month’s insurance update. The Supreme Court of Vermont considers how to measure a boat’s capacity under a watercraft exclusion. The Sixth Circuit decides whether an equipment...more
Until recently, a single judge sitting on a panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals could tee up an issue for the Supreme Court of North Carolina simply by filing a dissenting opinion. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-30(2) allowed...more
While this requirement is not new, the Court’s decision formally adopts a line of Court of Appeals precedent that enforces this rule with precision, particularly in complex cases involving multiple claims or defenses. The...more
Isn’t “secure leave” wonderful? It’s the one time YOUR schedule overrides the COURT schedule. Just designate a week or two or three, at least 90 days in advance, and you are off the hook for in-court appearances....more
Parties must move for a directed verdict to preserve their right to request judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV*) after an unfavorable verdict is returned. Friday’s batch of Supreme Court opinions includes a...more
Dissent-based appeals of right might stick around a little longer than we thought. The 2023 budget bill struck N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-30(2), which had allowed for an appeal of right to the Supreme Court whenever “there is a...more
For many moons, North Carolina was one of the few jurisdictions in which the losing party at the Court of Appeals could pursue an appeal as of right to the Supreme Court if the party managed to snag a dissenting opinion from...more
The North Carolina Supreme Court is not stingy with extensions. If a lawyer needs more time to file a brief, the Court will generally allow it. But with the Court largely caught up on its docket, you might not want to bank...more
You can hit your snooze button a little later on Tuesdays. Effective January 1, 2025, the Court of Appeals’ scheduled filing days for opinions will be the first and third Wednesday of the month, Since the Court will be...more
In appeals, the general rule is that litigants cannot appeal an interlocutory order until a final judgment is entered. But in North Carolina, a major statutory exception to the general rule exists: When the trial court’s...more
The Supreme Court’s Technology Department has done it again. Quietly adding even more features to the appellate courts’ electronic filings site, www.ncappellatecourts.org. The filing site has long allowed attorneys and the...more
A dissenting opinion in the Court of Appeals has long been a litigant’s Golden Ticket, at least until a recent statutory change. The mere existence of the dissent bestowed an automatic right of appeal to the Supreme Court of...more
Trigger warning: this post may cause appellate lawyers to have nightmares. There has been a spate of technical glitches lately that caused critical notices from the North Carolina Court of Appeals to end up in “quarantine”...more
If you have had a case tentatively calendared for oral argument in the Fourth Circuit recently, then you likely received a notice to submit a specific form indicating whether you are aware of any cases currently pending in...more
Amici will soon have more opportunities to share their views with our North Carolina appellate courts. Currently, our Appellate Rules expressly allow for amicus participation at the merits-briefing stage. N.C. R. App. P....more
On Monday, Governor Cooper elevated Judge Allison Riggs from the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, Judge Riggs and her appellate colleagues issued 24 opinions outside of the normal schedule. And now we hear...more
The Supreme Court of North Carolina gets a lot of questions and filings from unrepresented litigants. Often, those folks are in the wrong court (they should be in the Court of Appeals). Other times, they’re in the right...more
In a short order issued last week, the North Carolina Supreme Court narrowly voted to vacate a Court of Appeals’ opinion in connection with dismissing an appeal on mootness grounds. Well, I said that the order was short, but...more
Over the last few years, Confederate monuments in many North Carolina towns and cities have been objects of controversy. As one who parked for eighteen years in the shadow of the towering and now-departed Confederate...more
With little notice or fanfare, the latest North Carolina Senate budget bill stands poised to make a significant change in North Carolina appellate practice. Currently there are several routes to the Supreme Court of North...more
On May 3, 2022, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a large batch of opinions. By my count, twenty-two were published and thirty were unpublished. While history may prove me wrong, none of the published opinions...more
This blog post is a mishmash of news and updates. —Remote Oral Argument in Harper v. Hall (N.C. Congressional Maps Case). After a Supreme Court remand, the trial court entered an order upholding North Carolina’s...more
I am pleased to report that the Supreme Court of North Carolina has selected Grant Buckner as its 17th Clerk of Court. Grant is no stranger to the appellate courts. Early on in his career, he clerked for Judge (and later...more
As noted previously, the 2022 Appellate Rules amendments contemplate that the entire record on appeal should be filed electronically during a single e-filing session. Yet, when those amendments were first announced back in...more
On Wednesday, October 13, the Supreme Court of North Carolina issued new amendments to the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure. The key changes, which apply to notices of appeal filed on or after 1 January 2022, are...more