North Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from August 2008

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from August 2008

Commentary: Managing multi-generational law firms.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Cheryl Leone If you have read the other three articles of this series, you will have come to the conclusion that management in the 21st century has basically had to throw out the handbooks on how to motivate and retain a work...

Raleigh attorney George M. Womble Jr. dies at 81.(Obituary)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff George M. Womble Jr. Raleigh attorney George Morgan Womble Jr. died July 12, 2008. He was 81. Born Oct. 9, 1926, Womble attended Fred A. Olds School in Raleigh before moving with his...

N.C. Lawyers in the News: August 4, 2008.(North Carolina)
August 4, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The Charlotte Business Journal has honored K&L Gates attorney Jo Ann Brighton with its Women in Business Achievement Award. > Brighton, who is of counsel in the firm's Charlotte office, focuses...

Commentary: Judicial pay: The rest of the story.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Alan V. Pugh The lead article in the July 21, 2008, edition of Lawyers Weekly focused on the efforts of the North Carolina Bar Association to lobby the legislature to increase the compensation of judges in North Carolina. Without...

N.C. State Bar ethics opinion would prohibit frivolous claims of misconduct.(North Carolina)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger A proposed State Bar ethics opinion that would prohibit frivolous accusations of prosecutorial misconduct could cause more trouble than it solves, criminal defense attorneys are saying. Proposed 2008 Formal Ethics...

N.C. attorney uses legal, medical skills to heal loss, cure misunderstandings.(North Carolina)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith When nurse practitioner Harriett Smalls was named as a potential witness in two medmal lawuits in 1989 and 1992, she had no idea that she would end up finding remedies for disputes on a regular basis. Smalls, who...

Verdicts & Settlements August 4, 2008: $2M + settlements after tragic wreck.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger Charlotte attorneys Daniel R. Hansen and Steven A. Meckler felt confident they could secure settlements from three bars that were accused of serving a drunk driver who killed six people in 2003 in one of the worst...

CLE for the Busy Lawyer.(continuing legal education)
August 4, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Licenses & Permits - Hand Gun Permit - Involuntary Commitment - Statutory Requisites Waldron v. Batten.(Lawyers Weekly No. 08-07-0826, 7 pp.) Where plaintiff never...

Court's open seats raise concern in N.C.(North Carolina)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger Partisan politics have kept North Carolina from being fairly represented in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for far too long, damaging the court's credibility and straining its resources, legal experts...

North Carolina Court of Appeals panel deletes e-mail ruling.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger The e-mailing of a deputy commissioner's decision, without warning it was being served to attorneys that way, may prompt the Industrial Commission to amend its rules. In an Aug. 5 decision, a Court of Appeals panel...

4th Circuit: No collateral estoppel effect from default judgment.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger A recent decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals may illustrate the need for North Carolina to adopt a certification process for times when unresolved questions of state law show up in federal court. ...

Full speed ahead: Blind Wake Forest law student preparing to row his way to Paralympics victory.(Jamie Dean)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith If ever a person was on a quest, it's law student Jamie Dean, and his journey is proof positive that he doesn't need eyesight to see where he's going in life. Dean, 26, is legally blind. He's on track to earn a...

Short, busy session wraps up for North Carolina legislature.
August 11, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Staff Reports The General Assembly wrapped up one of its shortest but busiest legislative sessions in several years when it adjourned July 18. Even though it was the third earliest adjournment of the last 10...

Verdicts & Settlements August 11, 2008: Claimant settles bad-faith, IIED claims for $775,000.(intentional infliction of emotional distress)
August 11, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The complaint was made directly against the insurance carrier/third-party administrator and the adjuster for bad-faith handling of a workers' compensation claim and a separate civil claim for...

North Carolina Lawyers in the News: August 11, 2008.
August 11, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Staff Reports Two attorneys have joined the finance practice of Mayer Brown as partners. David R. Wiles and Timothy R. Ryan will work in the firm's Charlotte office and focus their practice on U.S. and cross-border...

Feds, textile firms settle price-fixing case for $107M.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Nexsen Pruet's antitrust practice group recently settled for its clients federal claims against Hoechst Celanese Corporation and its affiliated entities for $107 million in a case involving...

Proposed N.C. State Bar ethics opinion would regulate law firm employment agreements.(North Carolina)
August 18, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A proposed State Bar ethics opinion would require law firms to use employment agreements that are reasonable and do not penalize or deter lawyers from taking clients with them when they leave a...

Feds, textile firms settle price-fixing case for $107M.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff From STAFF REPORTS CHARLOTTE - Nexsen Pruet's antitrust practice group recently settled for its clients federal claims against Hoechst Celanese Corporation and its affiliated entities for...

Proposed ethics opinion would regulate law firm employment agreements.
August 18, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff From STAFF REPORTS A proposed State Bar ethics opinion would require law firms to use employment agreements that are reasonable and do not penalize or deter lawyers from taking clients with...

N.C. Court of Appeals: Appeal judgment before costs, fees resolved.(North Carolina)
August 18, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The Court of Appeals issued a word of caution to attorneys with its Aug. 5 decision to dismiss an appeal from a caveat proceeding: Don't wait for the issues of costs and attorney fees to be...

Standing tall for his party: N.C. attorney brings new approach to Democrats' campaigning.(Jerry Meek)
August 18, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger The toughest loss of Jerry Meek's political career might have been the North Carolina Democratic Party's greatest gain. Fresh out of Duke Law School, Meek lost his bid in 1998 to win Cumberland County's 18th...

Death Row records: S.C. lawyer band draws inspiration from capital defense work.(The Reprieves)
August 18, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith A prisoner's last hours on death row are hard to envision unless you've been there. South Carolina capital defense attorney John Blume has not only been there. He's sung there. It was Jan. 22, 1999, at the...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2008: Arbitration panel awards $1.1 million to investor.
August 18, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff was a retired assistant kindergarten teacher who inherited a large amount of money from her mother and aunt. The respondents were a securities broker, the three broker-dealers for...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2008: Driver rear-ended by tractor-trailer gets $810K settlemen.
August 18, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff, a 58-year-old male, was delivering auto parts to a customer on Nov. 8, 2007, near Hartsville, S.C., when he was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer traveling at about 75 miles per hour....

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2008: Owners of land taken for Harvey Point Naval Base settle.
August 18, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Owners of land taken for Harvey Point Naval Base settle for $5.8M The federal government instituted an eminent domain action to procure additional land for the Harvey Point Naval Base in...

Freedom & fairness: Robert Orr.
August 24, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger Robert Orr likes to tell the story of his great-grandfather, a Hendersonville farmer whose moral compass led him away from the Confederacy and over the mountains into Tennessee, where he joined the Union army. "If...

North Carolina Lawyers in the News: August 25, 2008.(Brief article)
August 25, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Staff Reports Attorney Jill M. Benson has joined the Winston-Salem law firm of Spilman Thomas & Battle as an associate. Her practice focuses on litigation and appellate cases, particularly those involving labor,...

North Carolina appellate rules controversy rears up again.
August 25, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger Despite receiving guidance from the Supreme Court in March, the Court of Appeals still can't reach a consensus on how to handle appellate rule violations. In two Aug. 19 decisions involving violations, the Court of...

Business Court sets procedures for class-actions in North Carolina.
August 25, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger In response to a recent Court of Appeals ruling, the Business Court has set out procedures for attorneys to follow when filing for voluntary dismissals of pre-certification class-action lawsuits. "In adopting these...

Verdicts & Settlements August 25, 2008: Church receives $1.25 million in condemnation settlement.
August 25, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Staff Reports The Nash-Rocky Mount Board of Education instituted this case to acquire a parcel of land to be assembled with other parcels for the construction of a new high school. The land owned by Life United...