North Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from February 2003

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from February 2003

N.C. Appeals Court applies discovery rule to 'hidden' timber damage.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry The three-year clock on a landowner's claim that her timber was negligently cut down began when she discovered the damage -- not when it occurred, the Appeals Court has ruled. The unpublished holding in Cox v. Foley...

North Carolina landowner gets attorney's fees in permitting dispute with agency.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry The state's top environmental agency must pay the $20,356 legal tab of a Hyde County commercial fisherman who showed a building permit was denied without good grounds. The fisherman wanted to put a freezer building...

N.C. Appeals Court rules temporary comp continued after maximum improvement.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry A doctor's opinion that an employee's physical recovery from a knee injury had peaked didn't cut off his right to continued benefits for a temporary total disability, the Appeals Court has ruled. The decision in...

North Carolina Bar approves residential closing opinions.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton Two opinions that will bring a fundamental shift in how and where residential closing conferences are conducted have been approved by the State Bar's governing body. * Non-lawyers will be allowed to present and...

N.C. Court of Appeals rules request for district court tapes prevented appeal dismissal.
February 10, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Where a New Hanover defendant promptly requested tapes of a District Court hearing -- but the clerk's office took two months to furnish them -- he was excused from meeting several appellate deadlines, the Court of...

N.C. Court of Appeals rules doctor's opinion on injury's 'possible' cause not too vague.
February 10, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry A doctor's opinion that stress from a grocery store altercation "possibly" caused a customer's shingles was not too vague to be admitted, the Appeals Court held Feb. 4. Even though the plaintiff's physician never...

North Carolina Court of Appeals rules tardy wage info didn't justify late settlement offer.
February 10, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Even though an auto accident plaintiff had not yet documented her lost wages, the defendant was not justified in refusing for three years to make a settlement offer on the rest of her claim, the Appeals Court held Feb....

North Carolina Court of Appeals rules county immune to suit over septic tank opinion.
February 10, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton Landowners who alleged an Orange County employee negligently told them their property could handle a mobile home's septic tank were barred from recovering damages, the Court of Appeals has ruled. The landowners...

Commentary: Ask The Risk Man.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Jay Reeves Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until next week. That's the philosophy of the 20 percent of adults who consider themselves chronic procrastinators, according to Psychology Today. They wait until...

University of North Carolina School of Law Dean Nichol Wins Law Day Speech Award.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff University of North Carolina School of Law Dean Gene Nichol has won the first place award in the American Bar Association's Judge Edward R. Finch Law Day speech contest. The award, which includes...

Verdicts & Settlements February 17, 2003: Med-Mal Suit Over Psychiatric Drug Gets $940K Settlement.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Description: Decedent voluntarily admitted to hospital's close observation psychiatric unit dies one day later as a result of reaction to antipsychotic and antidepressant medications prescribed by...

Verdicts & Settlements February 17, 2003: Hit-And-Run Accident Results In $108K Verdict.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The minor plaintiff, 15 years old at the time of the injury in 2000, was injured when a hit-and-run driver struck his family's vehicle, causing the vehicle to leave the roadway and roll over. The...

Verdicts & Settlements February 17, 2003: Negligent hiring leads to $1M settlement.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff, a 36 year old married father of 3, was shot and killed at work by a temporary co-worker who had recently been released from prison in Conn. after serving over 5 years for attempted...

Verdicts & Settlements February 17, 2003: School settles for $475K for negligence.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The day before the plaintiff's sixth birthday, he was injured while in the care of an after-school care program operated by a local public school. The after-school program took all the children...

North Carolina Lawyers In The News: February 17, 2003.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Effective Jan. 1, Elizabeth C. Trahos and Jeffrey P. Gray became partners in the law firm of Holt York McDarris & High. Trahos is a graduate of the University of Richmond School of Law and holds a...

North Carolina Medmal Limits: A Closer Look At Senate Bill 9.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff If enacted, SB 9 would limit the size of medical malpractice awards, allow periodic judgment payments in many cases and curtail contingency fees paid to plaintiffs' attorneys. At press time,...

North Carolina Senate Bill Would Cap Medmal Damages And Contingency Fees.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Jurors could give medmal victims no more than $250,000 for pain and suffering, disfigurement, or shortened lifespans under a bill now pending in the state Senate. The proposal to cap all noneconomic damages in...

Revised Appellate Style Manual Announced By North Carolina Bar Association Committee.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton Appellate lawyers take note: style is everything in a revised publication just released by the Appellate Rules Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association. The "Style Manual for the North Carolina Rules of...

North Carolina Lawyers Could Get Statutory Award And Contingent Fee.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton Lawyers who received statutory attorney's fees in small injury cases could also collect a contingency fee, provided the total was not excessive, under a proposed ethics ruling. That holding in revised proposed...

A Quick Look At North Carolina Bar Rules Revisions.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton These highlights of significant rules revisions were drawn from the latest text of the rules and a State Bar executive summary prepared last year. The Bar council approved the revisions Jan. 24. They must still win...

North Carolina Bar Rules Changes Will Affect Fee Contracts, Prospective Clients.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton The State Bar has approved a package of ethics rules that will change, among other things, how lawyers interact with clients, how they run their law practices and how they advertise their services. The rules now...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: February 17, 2003.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights First Amendment - Police Officer's Free Speech - Employee Discipline Where a police chief conditioned the return to work of an officer previously placed on administrative...

Nelson Mullins Grows In North Carolina With New And Expanded Offices Expands Office In Charlotte, Adds New Offices In Raleigh And Winston-Salem.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, South Carolina's largest law firm, has opened two new North Carolina offices and expanded its existing Charlotte office. "Nelson Mullins has wanted to...

U.S. Court Judge Rules Bank Customer Has Race Bias Claim After Police Called In.
February 17, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry An African-American bank customer who was stopped and searched after a branch manager told police he was acting suspiciously can go forward with race discrimination claims, a federal judge has ruled. The decision...

N.C Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: February 17, 2003.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Civil Practice - Mediated Settlement - Mutual Mistake - Insufficient Showing - Engineer's Agreement - Agency Where the parties' settlement agreement provided that the defendants...

U.S. District Court Middle District Case Summaries: February 17, 2003.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Personal Jurisdiction - Minimum Contacts - Specific Jurisdiction - Single Contract - Continuing Contacts Where (1) the N.C. plaintiff sold a machine to the Tennessee...

Verdicts & Settlements February 17, 2003: Auto accident results in $153,500 settlement.
February 17, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The minor plaintiff, seven years old at the time of the injury in 2000, was injured when the defendant driver, an employee of VEPCO, failed to yield the right of way at a rural four-way...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Res Judicata - Mediated Settlement - Fraud - Intrinsic - Collateral Attack Where, in court-ordered mediation of the parties' state court lawsuit, the defendant allegedly...

U.S. District Court Western District Case Summaries: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Social Security - Disability - Alcoholism - Other Diagnoses - Not Separated Where the plaintiff's own expert defined his disability in terms of his alcoholism in...

North Carolina Lawyers In The News: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff After 12 years as a practicing neurosurgeon in Winston-Salem, Dr. Charles Rawlings last year fulfilled a long-time ambition to be both a doctor and a lawyer by completing law school and joining...

N.C. Court Of Appeals Overturns Contributory Negligence Verdict Despite Plaintiff's Speeding.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Even if a Wilson County driver was going 15 m.p.h. over the limit when another motorist hit her at an intersection, that didn't raise a jury issue on contributory negligence, the Appeals Court held Feb. 18. The...

N.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Class Action - Intervention - Denial - Interlocutory Order - Appeals - Dismissed - First Impression Where the appellant, upon objecting in a timely manner at the fairness...

North Carolina Department Of Transportation Must Pay For Failing To Erect Signs At Rail Crossing.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry The state Department of Transportation must pay damages to a truck driver whose rig was hit by a train when it got stuck at a crossing near Morrisville, the Appeals Court held Feb. 18. The DOT said if the plaintiff...

U.S. Middle District Court Rules Alleged Mediation Fraud Not Grounds For Collateral Attack.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Ertel Berry Even if a defendant's fraud during court-ordered mediation fooled a plaintiff into taking a settlement -- and a voluntary dismissal with prejudice -- he could not undo the judgment by a separate action five years later,...

N.C. State Bar Cites Attorney For Mishandling Death Appeal.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton The State Bar has sanctioned a Greensboro attorney who admitted sabotaging the appeal of his death row client. In an order released Feb. 13, the Bar Disciplinary Hearing Commission gave Greensboro attorney David...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Practice Habeas Corpus - N.C. Death Penalty - Jury Instruction -Mitigating Circumstances The 4th Circuit reverses a district court decision that petitioner was procedurally...