North Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from July 2008

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from July 2008

N.C. case of Tillman v. Commercial Credit Loans, Inc.: Back to where he started.(North Carolina)
July 7, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger The Supreme Court's decision last January in Tillman v. Commercial Credit Loans, Inc. was a landmark: The first appellate court decision in the state's history to deem a binding arbitration clause "unconscionable." ...

Commentary: managing multi-generational law firms: who are these people?(part 1)
July 14, 2008... Byline: Cheryl Leone Editor's Note:This is the first installment in Cheryl Leone's four-part series entitled "Managing Multi-Generational Law Firms." The series will appear each week through Aug. 4. Leone is a speaker and writer and one of...

General Assembly hones in on foreclosure prevention.
July 14, 2008... Byline: GUY LORANGER, Staff Writer The General Assembly is working on a new set of bills during the short session that should keep North Carolina at the cutting edge of fighting the foreclosure crisis. The bills would crack down on...

Pending sales of existing homes fall 4.7 percent.
July 14, 2008... Byline: ALAN ZIBEL, The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- A measurement of pending home sales fell to the third-lowest reading on record in May as the U.S. housing market's recovery continued to prove elusive. The National Association of...

N.C. Administrative Hearings Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Licenses & Permits - Respiratory Therapist - Equipment Installation - Agency Procedure Thompson v. N.C. Respiratory Care Board. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-09-0822, 15 pp.)...

N.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 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.) (Ann Marie Calabria, J.)...

NC Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Appeals - No Authority Cited - Rule 12(b)(6) Dismissal Reinhardt v. Glendale Companies. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-16-0839, 9 pp.) (Donna S. Stroud, J.) Appealed from Jackson...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Student Loans - Undue Hardship - Attorney - Hope - Collection Stay Vujovic v. Direct Loans. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-05-0825, 15 pp.) (A. Thomas Small, J.) E.B.N.C. ...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Admiralty Negligence - Ship-Dredge Pipeline Allision - Comparative Fault Evergreen Int'l v. Norfolk Dredging Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-01-0847, 15 pp.) (Hamilton, J.) No. 07-1879, June...

Verdicts & Settlements July 14, 2008: Physician's discrimination suit against UNC settles for $200K.
July 14, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The University of North Carolina has agreed to pay $200,000 to a physician who claimed her salary was reduced by 40 percent after she returned from maternity leave in 2005. The state attorney...

N.C. Lawyers in the News July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: N.C. Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Tamara C. DiVenere has become a shareholder and partner in the law firm of Jeffrey J. Walker in Boone. The firm will now be known as Walker & DiVenere, Attorneys at Law. DiVenere received her...

N.C. Legal Community Obituaries: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: N.C. Lawyers Weekly Staff Kenneth Edward Banks Attorney Kenneth Edward Banks, 64, died June 27, 2008. A graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law, Banks practiced in Fayetteville for more than 30 years. In...

When disaster hits, lawyer mobilizes free legal services.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith It's a problem endlessly voiced by bar associations across the country: Lawyers just don't perform enough pro bono work. But that's not the case when it comes to Winston-Salem attorney Craig Cannon, according to...

N.C. Court of Appeals calls for closer scrutiny of checkpoints.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger In the wake of a recent Court of Appeals ruling, trial courts will need to take a closer look at the constitutionality of driver's license checkpoints. In a unanimous July 1 decision, an appeals panel held that a...

General Assembly hones in on foreclosure prevention in N.C.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger The General Assembly is working on a new set of bills during the short session that should keep North Carolina at the cutting edge of fighting the foreclosure crisis. The bills would crack down on mortgage...

Program seeks more attorneys to defend foreclosures in N.C.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger North Carolina might not be getting hit as hard by foreclosures as other parts of the country. Still, the state is facing numbers never seen before and the worst may be yet to come. Foreclosure filings in the...

Commentary: Through knowledge comes understanding.(Column)
July 21, 2008... Byline: Cheryl J. Leone I attended a meeting in 2007 that contained a course on management of multi-generational workers. As a Traditionalist, I was a little shocked to hear that HR people are getting calls from parents of the Millennials...

N.C. Lawyers in the News: July 21, 2008.(North Carolina)
July 21, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Litigation attorney Joseph A. Cheek has joined the High Point office of Crumley & Associates. Cheek received his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at...

N.C. Medical Board to publish medmal payment information.(North Carolina)
July 21, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger Despite opponents' fears, the N.C. Medical Board is pushing forward with its plan to publish medical malpractice payment information on its Web site. A survey of other states convinced the board that publicizing...

N.C. Lawyers Weekly names Mathis new publisher.(Tonya Mathis)
July 21, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Veteran publishing executive Tonya Mathis has been named publisher of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly and its two sister publications, South Carolina Lawyers Weekly and Carolina Paralegal News. Mathis, publisher of...

New Bern To New Delhi: Globalization hits legal profession.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger Staring at a deadline one Friday evening four years ago, Russell Smith envisioned the fall of the traditional practice of law in the United States. He needed to get nine subpoenas in the mail by Monday morning, and...

N.C. lawyers wonder: Could outsourcing offshore turn practice of law into a product?(North Carolina)
July 21, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger The use of offshore legal process outsourcing companies by law firms might be the cost-cutting move of the future. However, some North Carolina attorneys are wondering if the price will be a loss of dignity for the...

N.C. Bar Assn. targets injustice of low judicial salaries.(North Carolina Bar Association)
July 21, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith For Henry Willis, leaving his judgeship 14 years ago to return to private practice wasn't a choice he wanted to make. But money, or the lack thereof, compelled him to make the move. "At that time in my life and...

Verdicts & Settlements July 21, 2008: Horse farm qualifies for present-use value status.
July 21, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A Polk County horse farm that had raised and sold horses for more than 30 years could qualify for present-use value tax treatment, the N.C. Property Tax Commission has ruled, overturning a county...

Verdicts & Settlements July 21, 2008: Wreck victim's estate settles wrongful death claim for $600K.
July 21, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff This case involved a motor vehicle accident on Highway 421 in New Hanover County about 4:40 a.m. on Jan. 25, 2006. The decedent was on his way to work, traveling south. At the same time, a...

Commentary: Managing multi-generational law firms: How to mentor the mixed work force.(Column)
July 28, 2008... Byline: Cheryl J. Leone To be successful in managing your employees, you need to understand the steps to good generational management. Accept that there are differences among generations. You cannot apply your generational conditioning...

N.C. Lawyers in the News: July 28, 2008.(North Carolina)
July 28, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Smith Moore attorney Jonathan P. Heyl has been elected chair of the N.C. Bar Association's antitrust and trade regulation section. Heyl, who will serve a one-year term, has been involved in the...

N.C. Court of Appeals Panel: Judge drew line on class actions but crossed Constitution.(North Carolina)
July 28, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger A North Carolina Court of Appeals panel faced a quandary: Protect class members or protect the Constitution? In a unanimous July 15 decision, the Constitution prevailed. In a May 2007 order, Business Court Judge...

Report highlights poor, need for more funding in N.C.(North Carolina)(Column)
July 28, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith "Why should I care?" Even though attorney Cal Adams has never been asked that question when he's talked about helping North Carolina's poor gain access to civil legal services, he knows the sentiment exists, both...

Proposed ethics opinion would allow N.C. lawyers to use 'minimum fees'.(North Carolina)
July 28, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger In an effort to clear up some confusion that has arisen over the years, a proposed State Bar ethics opinion would, for the first time, allow lawyers to collect a fee at the start of representation that both reserves...

Greensboro-based Smith Moore to merge with S.C. law firm.(South Carolina's Leatherwood Walker Todd & Mann)(Smith Moore Leatherwood)
July 28, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith Greensboro-based Smith Moore and one of South Carolina's largest firms, Leatherwood Walker Todd & Mann, have announced that they will merge on Aug. 1 to become Smith Moore Leatherwood. The union will create a firm...

Verdicts & Settlements July 28, 2008: Jury awards $92K in negligence suit against city.
July 28, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff After a sewage spill inundated the plaintiffs' basement and caused extensive property damage in August 2003, the plaintiffs sued the city for negligent maintenance and operation of its sewer and...