North Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from December 2003

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from December 2003

N.C. Lawyers In The News: December 1, 2003.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Robert A. Mason made a presentation on charitable deductions, charitable trusts, gift annuities and a legislative update tailored for certified public accountants at a seminar in his hometown of...

Greensboro-Based Adams Kleemeier Merging With S.C.'s Nexsen Pruet.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Greensboro's Adams Kleemeier Hagan Hannah & Fouts will merge with the Columbia, S.C.-based firm of Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard, Lawyers Weekly has learned. The combined firm will carry two...

Kilpatrick Stockton Makes Grant Okla. Medical Research Foundation For Medical Research.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The law firm of Kilpatrick Stockton has made a $100,000 contribution to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation to help it establish a magnetic resonance imaging facility for mice, according to a...

Wake County Data Worker Demoted Over Software Switch Has Race Claim.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry A former Wake County school employee who alleged her reassignment to a lower-paying teaching assistant post was race discrimination can pursue Title VII claims, a federal judge has ruled. The African-American...

Verdicts & Settlements December 1, 2003: Jury Awards $750K Over Failure To Monitor Oxygen.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Wayne County jurors have awarded $750,000 to the family of a hospital patient who died after doctors and nurses allegedly failed to notice the oxygen in her blood was dangerously low. The decedent, a 26-year-old...

U.S. District Court Middle District Case Summaries: December1, 2003.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Personal Jurisdiction - Tort/Negligence - Personal Injury - Tractor Trailer - Owner - Authorized Carrier - Pleadings - Motion to Amend Where the undisputed facts...

Verdicts & Settlements December 1, 2003: Cherokee Eastern Ban Settles Claims.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief statement of claim: The Cherokee police were called to the home of Charles "Charlie" Don Biello's mother because Charlie had threatened to kill himself and had cut his neck with a small...

N.C. Bar Applicant Makes The Grade After Scoring Error Corrected.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton It's every applicant's nightmare -- a failing score on the Bar exam. But an NCCU honors law grad who was told she'd flunked the July test has been added to the list of successful applicants after a grading error...

N.C. Industrial Commission Rules Doctor's Lunch Break Sleuthing Cracks Workers' Comp Claim.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A workers' compensation decision from the Industrial Commission represents a twist on the use of undercover surveillance to rebut the extent of a plaintiff's injuries. In Samuel v. Duke...

N.C. Industrial Comm. Case Summaries: December 1, 2003.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers Compensation Evidence - Surveillance Videotape - Medical Opinions Where the doctors who believe the plaintiff incapable of working based their opinions on her subjective reports...

NC Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: December 1, 200.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Appeals - Interlocutory - Dismissal Denied - Subject Matter Jurisdiction Even though the denial of a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction is immediately...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: December 1, 2003.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Prisons & Jails - Prison Inmate - Failure to Protect - Qualified Immunity A district court erred in granting summary judgment based on qualified immunity to defendant...

Commentary: Commercial Real Estate Update.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Is Your Building Safe? The September 2001 terrorist attacks dramatically changed the way we think about tall buildings. Now, along with the view and the floor plan, we can't help but think of...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: December 1, 2003.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Res Judicata - Trusts & Estates - Executrix's Removal - New Administrator Where, in this federal action, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant-administrator...

U.S. District Court Western District: December 1, 2003.
December 1, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Insurance Disability - Labor & Employment - ERISA Plan - Benefits Claim - Breach of Fiduciary Duty Even though the complaint sets out two separate claims--one for wrongfully denied...

N.C. Lawyers In The News: December 8, 2003.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Martin H. Brinkley has joined the Raleigh firm of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan as a partner practicing corporate and commercial law. Most recently with Moore & Van Allen,...

N.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 8, 2008.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Construction Contract - Novation - No Arbitration Agreement Even though the parties' first contract contained an arbitration agreement, since they replaced the first contract...

North Carolina legal obituaries: December 8, 2003.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Nathaniel L. Belcher Durham lawyer Nathaniel Lee Belcher was interred Nov. 10, Lawyers Weekly has learned. He was 74. Charles B. Nye Charles Byers Nye of Durham died Nov. 25 at age...

Chief Appeals Court Judge Eagles Interview: Mediation Program Exceeding Expectations.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Lawyers Weekly sat down with Chief Appeals Court Judge Sidney S. Eagles Jr. last week and discussed the court's pilot mediation program. Following are his remarks. Lawyers Weekly: What got...

After 34 Years, Surprise Still Around The Corner For Iredell Clerk.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff In the late 1960s, Johnny Hayes said he wanted to be involved with law enforcement, but tried to find a way to do it without being subject to gunfire. Hayes found his career path recording...

N.C. Appeals Court Rules Driver's Impairment Inferred From Fleeing Scene.
December 8, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Even though a wreck defendant claimed he drank only two beers hours before an accident, jurors could infer he was drunk because he admitted fleeing the scene to avoid a Breathalyzer test, the Appeals Court held Dec. 2....

Appeals Court Chief Touts Success Of Pilot Mediation in N.C.
December 8, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton More than half of the cases mediated under a test Appeals Court project have been settled, and that success has the court's chief judge pushing to make the experimental program permanent. Launched in October...

Patient's Family Settles Lidocaine Death Claim For $3.01M.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of action: Medical negligence/wrongful death Injuries alleged: Massive cerebral anoxic injury and death Name of case: Confidential Court/Case No: Confidential Tried before:...

Verdicts & Settlements December 8, 2003: Sickle Cell Child Awarded For Tardy Meningitis Diagnosis.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action: Medical malpractice - failure to diagnose meningitis in sickle cell child. Injuries Alleged: Post-meningitis encephalopathy, exacerbation of pre-existing sickle cell...

N.C. Appeals Court Rules Doctor's Explanation For Sponge Didn't Bar Res Ipsa Rule.
December 8, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Even though an obstetrician said he was justified in leaving a sponge in a patient to stop her bleeding, the patient could still base a medmal suit on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, the Appeals Court held Dec. 2....

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: December 8, 2003.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Personal Property - Lien - Custom Boat - Motion for Sale Even though the creditor paid $735,000 of the $748,615 sale price of the custom boat the debtor was building for him,...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: December 15, 2003.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Immigration - Amnesty - Judicial Review - 'Unlawful Status' An alien who has been denied temporary resident status under the amnesty provisions of the Immigration & Reform...

N.C. Appeals Court Tosses Interlocutory Appeal Despite Two-Dismissal Rule.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The rules on interlocutory appeals are complex, but a Dec. 2 Appeals Court decision reiterates one guideline that is clear: in general, a trial judge's denial of a motion to dismiss a case is not...

U.S. District Court Western District: December 8, 2003.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Constitutional - First Amendment - Recreation Center - Dances - Ban Even though the plaintiff had a right to hear any protected speech at events at a town recreation center,...

Verdicts & Settlements December 8, 2003: Motorcyclist Recovers $2.15M For Severe Ankle, Leg Injuries.
December 8, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action: Personal injury Injuries Alleged: Severe ankle/leg injury Name of Case: Not filed/withheld Court/County: Not filed Case No.: Not filed Tried Before:...

N.C. Lawyers In The News: December 15, 2003.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Rocky Mount lawyer Michael Batts of Batts, Batts & Bell was named the 2003 Volunteer Attorney of the Year for Edgecombe, Nash and Wilson counties. Attorney John Keller presented the award to Batts...

N.C. Business Court Case Summaries: December 15, 2008.(Case overview)
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Corporate - Contract - Stock Agreement - Unconscionability - Sale Restrictions - Unfair Trade Practices Where the plaintiff-employer lured the individual defendants to leave other employment...

N.C. Industrial Commission Case Summaries: December 15, 2003.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Job Offer - Justified Refusal - Bridge Employment - Subsidized Where the defendants would have had to subsidize the plaintiff's wages in order for her to retain the "bridge employment"...

Parker Poe Part Of Seven bond Issues In N.C. Totaling More Than $257 Million.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein was involved in seven bond issues last week across North Carolina totaling more than $257 million, according to a firm release. Parker Poe is acting as bond...

Chief Judge At N.C. Court Of Appeals Announces Retirement.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Court Chief Judge Sidney S. Eagles Jr., a 21-year veteran on the court, told Lawyers Weekly last week that he plans to retire at the end of January 2004. Eagles, who will turn 65 next...

N.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: December 15, 2003.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Licenses & Permits - Stormwater Discharge - Civil Practice - Standing - Wood Chip Mills Where the petitioner is a nonprofit trade association whose members engage in...

N.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: December 15, 2003.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Agency - Fictitious Principal - Civil Practice - Standing Even though the plaintiff entered into the contract with the defendant as an agent for a fictitious principal, since the...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: December 15, 2003.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Prisons & Jails - Prison Inmate - Kosher Diet - RLUIPA In this suit by a Virginia inmate claiming he was illegally denied the kosher diet required by his religious beliefs as...

Olive Is First Female Chair Of N.C. Law Examiners Board.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Durham intellectual property attorney Susan Freya Olive has been elected as chair of the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners -- the first woman to hold that position in the board's 70-year...

Kilpatrick Stockton Trademark Litigation Practice Ranked Fourth In U.S.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Managing Intellectual Property Magazine has ranked Kilpatrick Stockton's trademark litigation practice as the fourth leading practice in the country, a firm release said. Kilpatrick Stockton...

N.C. Appeals Court Rules Brewery Not Liable For Giving Worker Free Beer.
December 15, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Even if an Eden brewer knew an employee was an alcoholic -- but gave him free beer anyway -- the company wasn't liable when the worker got drunk and shot a man during an argument, the Appeals Court has held. The...

From Blue Book To Big Blue: N.C. Law Board Will Allow Laptops.
December 15, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton The venerable "blue book" used by generations of lawyers on the Bar exam could soon be a relic of the past. In a bold new experiment, the state Board of Law Examiners will allow some February Bar applicants to...

N.C. Appeals Court Rules Failure To Explain Terms Didn't Void ED Judgment.
December 15, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Even though a Buncombe County woman's consent judgment said the trial court "made inquiry" into whether she agreed to its terms and conditions, that didn't obligate the judge to explore whether she understood the legal...

U.S. District Court Middle District Case Summaries: December 15, 2003.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Intellectual Property Patent - Invalidation - Attorneys' Fees - Civil Practice - Discovery Even though the defendants have alleged several bases for their attorneys' fee claim against...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2003: Retired man killed by delivery truck.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief Statement of Claim: A retired 65-year old gentleman was killed instantly when a Fed Ex Ground delivery truck ran a stop sign in rural Chatham County. The deceased was survived by his wife,...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2003: $2.305M Award For Death From Water Mix-Up During Surgery.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief statement of claim: A 29-year-old wife and mother underwent percutaneous surgical procedure for removal of kidney stones. During the lengthy procedure, 42 liters of fluid were used for...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2003: Burned Patient Wins $2.37M Over Defective Surgical Lamp.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief statement of claim: A seven-year-old girl, Courtney Spain, fell in the driveway of her home when she was two years old, badly cutting her lip at the vermilion border (where the darker part...

N.C. State Bar Board Certifies 40 Specialists.
December 15, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton Forty lawyers have joined the ranks of certified specialists in six practice areas, the State Bar's Board of Legal Specialization has announced. New specialists were added in estate planning and probate, real...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2003: Motorist Hit By Truck Cargo Recovers $3M Settlement.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief statement of claim: Personal injury and workers' compensation Principal injuries (in order of severity): Cervical fracture resulting in tetraplegia Special damages: $200,000 in...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2003: Student Hurt In School Bus Crash Recovers $2.4M.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief statement of claim: Plaintiffs in this case were a female high school student and her parents. The student was a runner and soccer player, and she enjoyed playing the flute. The defendants...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2003: Condo Association Recovers $1.7M For Moisture Defects.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action: Seventy-two waterfront condominium units experienced moisture intrusion problems in four separate buildings. The plaintiff condominium association alleged construction defects...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2003: Failure To Stop Anesthesia Results In $2.78M Recovery.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief statement of claim: The minor plaintiff, then two years old, underwent an elective circumcision to correct a severe paraphimosis. Prior to the circumcision taking place, the child's heart...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2003: Trader Wins $1.674M On Contract, Wage, And Hour Claims.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief statement of claim: Breach of contract; violations of North Carolina Wage and Hour Act; claims by former employee regarding unpaid incentive compensation Principal injuries (in order of...

Recusal Standard Requires Objective Proof Of Bias 'Inferred Perception' May Be Insufficient.
December 15, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry A recent opinion from the state Supreme Court raises the issue whether the appearance of impartiality -- as opposed to proof of actual bias -- is sufficient to recuse a trial judge. One lawyer in the case says the...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: December 15, 2003.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Public Utilities - Coal Supply - Credit Rating - Assurances - Termination Where the parties' coal supply contract used the terms "credit enhancement" and "credit assurance"...

U.S. District Court Western District Case Summaries: December 15, 2003.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Prisons & Jails - Inmate - Injury by Jailer - Lack of Attention - Immunity Where, under G.S. 162-55, a sheriff and his deputies are liable for their reckless indifference...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2003: Motorist Hit By DOT Truck Gets $1.75M.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief statement of claim: On November 12, 1998, a North Carolina Department of Transportation supervisor instructed another employee, Owen, to drive a dump truck, with the 12,000-pound steamroller...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2003: Year Delay In Following Up Cancer X-Ray Brings $690K.
December 15, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief statement of claim: A 74-year-old widow underwent routine chest x-ray as part of a routine physical at a medical clinic in 2000. Report for the chest x-ray, which was faxed to the clinic,...

N.C. Lawyers In The News: December 22, 2003.
December 22, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Raleigh lawyer Jeff Gray of the law firm of Holt York McDarris & High was appointed by Gov. Mike Easley to a two-year term on the Rules Review Commission at the recommendation of the president pro...

N.C. Appeals Court Rules Insurer Must Pay Treble Damages For Deceptive Refund Letter.
December 22, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry An insurer's false statement that a Durham man's life insurance wasn't effective because his health changed before the policy was approved supported a Chapter 75 award for deceptive practices, the Appeals Court held...

N.C. Appeals Court Rules Prayer For Relief Not Fees 'Petition'.
December 22, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Even though a state employee "prayed" for legal fees in his original personnel suit against the Department of Transportation, a trial judge couldn't grant them without a separate fees "petition," the Appeals Court held...

N.C. Appeals Court Rules Sanctions Struck For Breaching Mediated Settlement.
December 22, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry A Dec. 16 Appeals Court ruling lays down several options a party can pursue if an opponent signs off on a mediated settlement agreement -- then refuses to honor the deal. Among them: File a petition or motion...

N.C. COA Rules Insurer's Concealment Of Lease Imputed To Insured Estoppel Barred Limitations Defense.
December 22, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton Where the insurer of a Wallace Piggly Wiggly negotiated with a slip-and-fall plaintiff -- knowing that the store had been leased to another of its insureds -- that insured was estopped from raising the statute of...

N.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 22, 2003.
December 22, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Attorney's Fee - Petition - Prayer for Relief - Insufficient - Labor & Employment - Public Employees Even though the plaintiff's complaint included a request for...

Verdicts & Settlements December 22, 2003: Overlooked Surgical Sponge Results In $300K Settlement.
December 22, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of action: Medical malpractice - retained sponge Injuries alleged: Sponge left in during hysterectomy and bladder tuck of 54-year-old patient Name of case: Confidential ...

Verdicts & Settlements December 22, 2003: Retiree Wins $239,608 Arbitration Award.
December 22, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action: Securities Injuries Alleged: Economic losses Name of Case: Bobbie Gray Roberts, Sr., et al v. Prudential Securities Incorporated, et al Court/Case No.: NASD...