North Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from February 2009

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from February 2009

Commentary: follow the leader.(part 4)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Cheryl J. Leone and David W. Favor We believed for many years that, by virtue of our mentoring and our teaching, we could change people. We finally awoke to the thought that we can deliver the message, but change can occur only...

Commentary: N.C. charities in 2009: a call to action for the North Carolina Bar.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Dianne Chipps Bailey @$> Commentary dbaileyrbh.com Most readers of this article are aware, personally and professionally, of the impact of the nation's current economic troubles. But no one will experience this crisis...

V-tech can make or 'brake' a case.(Massachusetts)
February 2, 2009... Byline: FREDERICK D. SMITH JR., Dolan Media Newswires rsmith@smithbrink.com If you are like the majority of attorneys who deal with motor-vehicle accident cases, whether you represent the injured party or the insurance carrier, you are...

Justices analyze car-passenger searches.
February 2, 2009... Byline: KIMBERLY ATKINS, Dolan Media Newswires @Normal1> kimberly.atkinslawyersusaonline.com The U.S. Supreme Court seems primed to hand down a ruling giving the police some authority to pat down car passengers during traffic...

Arizona House panel votes to ban photo enforcement on state highways.
February 2, 2009... Byline: CHRISTIAN PALMER, Dolan Media Newswires @Normal1> christian.palmerazcapitoltimes.com A bill to ban all use of photo-enforcement systems on Arizona's state highways has cleared its first legislative hurdle. Members of...

N.C. Lawyers in the News: February 2, 2009.
February 2, 2009... Byline: N.C Lawyers Staff Business Leader magazine recently selected Kilpatrick Stockton as one of the Top Law Firms in Charlotte, and several attorneys received awards as leaders in the community. Lois Colbert, managing partner of the...

General Assembly's bill drafting division helps to turn ideas into laws in N.C.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger Gerry Cohen estimates that he has written more than 5,000 bills for the state legislature during the last 32 years. He freely admits: Not a single one was his own idea. As an attorney in the General Assembly's bill...

N.C. Advocates for Justice mull vote for paralegals.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith Leaders of the N.C. Advocates for Justice have decided to move forward with a proposal for legal assistants to have a vote on its board of governors. In a unanimous vote, the board recently recommended "giving a...

Q&A interview with Greensboro attorney Trey Aycock.(Coltrane Aycock & Overfield )(Interview)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Diane Smith North Carolina Lawyers Weekly recently caught up with trial lawyer George W. "Trey" Aycock, who was just named to Worth Magazine's Top 100 Attorneys list. A trial lawyer and board-certified family law specialist, Aycock...

CORRECTION: Carolina Paralegal News, Jan. 26 ,2009 edition.
February 2, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The January 2009 issue of Carolina Paralegal News, which was inserted in the Jan. 26 issue of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, incorrectly displayed a photo of Patti Clapper on page 5 next to a...

Commentary: if lady justice wears a blindfold, how does she watch CNBC?<x.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Gregory Froom We all know that justice delayed is justice denied. But what about justice diminished by an economic downturn? As we compiled our annual top verdicts and settlements roundup last week, a fair amount of speculation...

N.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 2, 2009.
February 2, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Medicaid --Autistic Adult-- Home & Community Support --Personal Care Service--Regression Gaur v. North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services. (Lawyers Weekly No....

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: February 2, 2009.
February 2, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Contract -- Waiver After Litigation Forrester v. Penn Lyon Homes Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-01-0088, 7 pp.) (Motz, J.) No. 07-2171, Jan. 21, 2009; USDC at Martinsburg, W.Va....

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: February 2, 2009.
February 2, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Evidence -- Expert Witnesses-- Attorney -- Law Enforcement-- Psychologist -- Prison's Effect-- Magistrate Recommendation - Standard of Review Gell v. Town of Aulander....

Verdicts & Settlements February 2, 2009: Property owner settles taking with DOT<x.
February 2, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The N.C. Department of Transportation acquired a portion of an undeveloped parcel, with commercial zoning, for the Smith Avenue Extension in Brunswick County. The new road divided the...

N.C. Court of Appeals rules indirect purchasers have standing.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger There should be no doubt about it now: Consumers have standing to file lawsuits in North Carolina under the state's antitrust laws. The Court of Appeals affirmed that with its recent ruling in Teague v. Bayer AG...

N.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: February 2, 2009.
February 2, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Statute of Limitations -- Partnership -- Accounting -- Accrual Pugh v. Williams. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-16-0079, 7 pp.) (Linda Stephens, J.) Appealed from Randolph County...

Q&A with Charlotte-Anne Alexander, N.C. Assn. of Women Attorneys president.(Interview)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith Charlotte-Anne Alexander is the current president of the N.C. Association of Women Attorneys. An Ohio native, Alexander was licensed to practice law in North Carolina in 1996. She served as managing attorney at...

Even with N.C. IOLTA holding steady, legal services groups see trouble ahead.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger When the N.C. State Bar went to mandatory IOLTA last year and drew in the interest from 3,300 more trust accounts, it seemed like boom times were ahead. As the revenue flowed in, North Carolina IOLTA's executive...

North Carolina legislators dialing up new bills.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger A few lawmakers have chosen to crack down on the use of cell phones on the roads during the first week of the General Assembly's long session. Three bills have been introduced through Feb. 5 that would prohibit...

N.C. Court of Appeals finds risk runs with representation in real estate closings.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger It went down like most North Carolina residential real estate transactions: The buyers hired an attorney who handled everything, including depositing the funds in a trust account, recording the deed and cutting a check...

Victims of domestic violence: N.C. lawyer's benefits to raise awareness tribute to family friend.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith Newton attorney John Cutchin will always remember the horrified look on his wife's face after she answered the telephone in August 2007. The same phrase kept escaping her lips: "Oh God, oh God, oh God." And in...

Commentary: Practical Litigator: rescuing third-party claims from silent death in a comp file.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Mark McGrath After some 18 years of first defending and now prosecuting third-party workplace claims, I firmly believe for every meritorious third-party workplace injury case that gets filed, at least five equally viable cases die...

Commentary: Sound, diversified settlement planning - it's not an either-or proposition.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Tacker LeCarpentier "I'm a book; not a page." -- Ryan Bingham, Mescalito (2007) Lost Highway Records Sound, diversified settlement planning does not involve putting all of a claimant's "eggs in one basket," and it does...

North Carolina Lawyers in the News: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Reports Business Leader magazine recently selected Kilpatrick Stockton as one of the Top Law Firms in the Triad region, and several attorneys received awards as leaders in the community. Partner...

North Carolina Supreme Court says corporate officer could be haled into N.C. court.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger The state Supreme Court has reversed a Court of Appeals ruling that would have made it difficult to sue the officers of out-of-state corporations. The appeals panel had ruled 2-1 in April 2008 that an officer of...

North Carolina Supreme Court to review telephonic oath case.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger Last March, the Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in an unpublished decision that a deposition taken over an international long-distance phone call between Raleigh and Honduras did not violate the state's rules of...

North Carolina Assn. of Defense Attorneys ready to react.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger The N.C. Association of Defense Attorneys won't go on offense until a bill that would replace the state's pure contributory-negligence doctrine with a comparative-fault system is actually filed in the General Assembly,...

Christian counselors: practicing what they preach in North Carolina.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith For Tony Hartsoe, the practice of law is a religious experience. Literally. Since 2001, the Winston-Salem attorney has committed himself to merging his faith with his firm, branding it openly as a Christian law...

Q&A interview George Johnson, dean of Elon University School of Law.(North Carolina)(Interview)
February 16, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith Attorney and scholar George R. Johnson Jr. was recently named the second dean of the Elon University School of Law. He is taking over the position from founding Dean Leary Davis, who stepped down due to health issues....

North Carolina Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Practice Constitutional -- Defendant's Silence --Harmless Error -- Statutory Rape State v. Adu. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-07-0115, 14 pp.) (Linda M. McGee, J.) Appealed from...

North Carolina Supreme Court Case Summaries: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Personal Jurisdiction -- Corporate Officer -- N.C. Visits & Calls Saft America, Inc. v. Plainview Batteries, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-06-0123, 2 pp.) (Per Curiam)...

North Carolina Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Rule 11 -- Appeals -- Trial Court Jurisdiction -- Evidentiary Hearing -- Attorneys -- Domestic Relations Johns v. Johns. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-16-0131, 18 pp.) (Martha A....

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Excessive Force -- Suicide Threat -- Qualified Immunity Cloaninger v. McDevitt. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-01-0136, 19 pp.) (Agee, J.) No. 07-2054, Feb. 9, 2009; USDC at...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Duty to Defend & Indemnify -- Claims & Suits -- Tort/Negligence -- Fraud & Unfair Trade Practices -- Mere Breach -- Intellectual Property -- Patent Infringement Claims Carolina...

U.S. District Court Western District Case Summaries: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Federal Jurisdiction -- Removal -- Diversity -- N.C. Defendant -- Insurance -- UIM Selection/Rejection -- Agency Davis v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co....

Commentary: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Steven Allen Bimbo If, on the first day of law school, someone had told me that I would begin my final semester researching the largest government stimulus package since the New Deal, I would have told them there was a better...

North Carolina Lawyers in the News: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Jackson Lewis recently selected Ted N. Kazaglis for partnership in the Raleigh office. Steven McCallister, an attorney with Shanahan Law Group, has been named to the Business North Carolina's...

Campbell Law School gives hardhat tour of new law building in Raleigh.(North Carolina)
February 23, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger As Dean Melissa Essary steered her group through the hanging wires and steel beams giving them their first inside glimpse of what will be Campbell Law School's new downtown Raleigh home in the fall Dr. Jerry Wallace...

North Carolina's dearth of women on superior court bench persists.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith North Carolina's women judges made history when they recently won the majority of seats on the Court of Appeals. Advocates hope to seize upon that momentum to tackle the dramatic shortage of women on the superior court...

Durham's Book Exchange closes after 76 years.(North Carolina)
February 23, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger The state's legal community lost one of its treasures Feb. 14 when The Book Exchange in downtown Durham closed its doors after 76 years in business. If you were a law student at Campbell, Duke, UNC or N.C. Central,...

Christian Counselors: North Carolina lawyers find way to mesh church, practice.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith Given that the U.S. is a country founded on both religious freedom and separation of church from state, it's expected that some in the legal and lay communities would raise their eyebrows skeptically at the notion of a...

North Carolina Bar Assn. makes gift to Legal Aid.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger With the economy reeling, Legal Aid of North Carolina has found itself receiving fewer funds while, at the same time, facing a greater demand for its services. Legal Aid's situation was very much on the minds of...

Taking the majority position: gender balance tips on North Carolina Court of Appeals.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith Change. It's the vibe resonating 'round the world these days. You can feel it in Barack Obama's election as the first black president. You can sense it in Sarah Palin's nomination as the first woman in the No....

North Carolina Court of Appeals finds wife liable for deceased husband's medical debts.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Guy Loranger A Guilford County woman could be liable under the common-law doctrine of necessaries for her late husband's medical bills, even though they had kept separate finances throughout their marriage, the Court of Appeals has...

N.C. Business Court Case Summaries: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Forum-Selection Clause -- French Bank -- Third-Party Agreements -- First Impression Speedway Motorsports International Ltd. v. Bronwen Energy Trading, Ltd. (Lawyers Weekly No....

N.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Civil Practice -- Mootness -- CON Law -- Renal Care Facility Total Renal Care of North Carolina LLC v. North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services. (Lawyers Weekly...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Immigration -- Asylum -- Panel Referral Quinteros-Mendoza v. Holder. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-01-0160, 10 pp.) (Motz, J.) No. 07-1544, Feb. 11, 2009; On Petition for Review....

Verdicts & Settlements February 23, 2009: High-low settlement reached in gastric bypass case.
February 23, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff In February 2008, a Forsyth County jury returned a verdict for $2.1 million in this case, which involved a 56-year-old woman who had undergone gastric bypass surgery for weight loss. The...

Verdicts & Settlements February 23, 2009: Estate of 78-year-old man settles medmal claim.
February 23, 2009... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The estate of a 78-year-old man who died while receiving treatment for colon cancer settled this wrongful-death claim for $1.375 million in March 2008. After being diagnosed with colon...