North Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from June 2008

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from June 2008

Back to the future? Old-school value-billing seen as viable alternative to billable hour.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger Lawyers might start turning back the clock on the hourly billing system as the result of pressures coming from both inside and outside of the legal profession. Since the mid-1960s, hourly billing has been the norm...

Elon, Charlotte law schools at accreditation milestone.(Elon University School of Law)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith Officials from North Carolina's two newest law schools expect to learn whether their schools have been granted provisional approval for accreditation as early as next week, after the American Bar Association council...

North Carolina's Gilchrist, Smith receive awards named in their honor.(Wade M. Smith and Peter S. Gilchrist)(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Reports The NCBA's Criminal Justice Section recently honored Raleigh lawyer Wade M. Smith and Peter S. Gilchrist, Mecklenburg County district attorney, with newly established awards named after...

N.C. court official questions budget cuts.(Gregg Stahl)
June 2, 2008... Byline: GUY LORANGER, Staff Writer The state's court system will face a $4.3 million budget cut in the coming fiscal year, according to an official from the Administrative Office of the Courts. That cut was "puzzling" in light of the...

Man's seizures, invalid license don't make wife liable in wreck.
June 2, 2008... Byline: GUY LORANGER, Staff Writer The Court of Appeals has ruled that a wife could not be liable for aiding and abetting her husband's negligent driving even though she knew he was prone to seizures and did not have a valid driver's...

NC Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: June 2, 2008.(North Carolina)
June 2, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Licenses & Permits - Driver's License - Revocation - DWI - Reasonable Grounds - Chemical Analysis - Refusal Thurman v. Commissioner. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-16-0627, 13 pp.)...

Verdicts & Settlements June 2, 2008: Estate of officer killed in wreck settles lawsuit.
June 2, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The defendant-driver allegedly parked a black dump truck mostly in the travel lane of a rural secondary road at around 3:30 a.m. The driver was on his way out of town for a job and stopped to...

Verdicts & Settlements June 2, 2008: Parties undergo mediation, settle medmal claim for $450K.(medical malpractice)(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A 74-year-old patient was admitted with congestive heart failure. The plaintiff alleged that, during surgery for aortic valve replacement, the defendant negligently placed pacing wires through...

North Carolina court official questions budget cuts.
June 2, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The state's court system will face a $4.3 million budget cut in the coming fiscal year, according to an official from the Administrative Office of the Courts. That cut was "puzzling" in light...

N.C. Court of Appeals says man's seizures, invalid license don't make wife liable in wreck.(North Carolina)
June 2, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The Court of Appeals has ruled that a wife could not be liable for aiding and abetting her husband's negligent driving even though she knew he was prone to seizures and did not have a valid...

Back to the future?(hourly billing system)
June 2, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff By GUY LORANGER Staff Writer Lawyers might start turning back the clock on the hourly billing system as the result of pressures coming from both inside and outside of the legal...

Rules require business attire in court, yet judge sees lawyers dressing down.(Letter to the editor)
June 9, 2008... Byline: LETTER TO THE EDITOR Editor's note: The following letter refers to an article headlined "Fashion Court" that appeared in the May 26 issue of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly. The article examined attitudes about dress codes in the...

Commentary: Ask the Risk Man: 12 responses to remember when people get nosy about your cases.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Jay Reeves Summer is here, and with it comes a new set of threats to client confidentiality. Imagine yourself at your next picnic or softball game, and someone asks you about an interesting client or case. Or perhaps it is you...

Commentary: Scalia, writing expert team up to offer practice pointers, stress self-preparation.(Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges)(Book review)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Saad Gul Any justice of the Supreme Court of the United States writing a book on advocacy can expect it to draw considerable attention. But if the justice combines a colorful, Oscar-the-grouch persona with a famed wit and acerbic...

North Carolina Legal Obituary: Edward N. Rodman.(Obituary)(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... Byline: N.C. Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Edward N. Rodman Edward N. Rodman, past president of the N.C. Bar Association, died April 29, 2008, at the age of 81. He served as president of the NCBA in 1975-76. Rodman, a native of...

'Fictitious' employer relationship doesn't bar UDTP claim, rules N.C. Court of Appeals.(North Carolina. Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger An Iredell County man who contracted to sell his construction and grading businesses -- but first agreed to a "fictitious employment agreement" with the buyer while the purchase was pending -- could sue the buyer under...

Oregon resident can't use state's wage laws, affirms N.C. Court of Appeals.(North Carolina)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger The plaintiff, an Oregon resident, had worked for nearly two years under an independent contractor agreement with the defendant, a Greensboro-based Internet marketing company akin to a "mall without walls." When...

Work stress caused secretary's death, N.C. Court of Appeals rules.(North Carolina)
June 9, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger The estate of a secretary who worked a high-stress job at Duke University Medical Center could recover death benefits under the state's Workers' Compensation Act, the Court of Appeals has ruled. A full panel of...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: June 9, 2008.(United States)
June 9, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Firefighter Training - Due Process Waybright v. Frederick County, Md. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-01-0652, 16 pp.) (Wilkinson, J.) No. 07-1289, June 2, 2008; USDC at Baltimore,...

Verdicts & Settlements June 9, 2008: Insurer settles dispute over claim on burned house.
June 9, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff's home burned on Christmas Eve 2005 when a small portable heater tipped over. The house was uninhabitable. There was no allegation of arson. The plain-tiff notified the insurer of...

Commentary: N.C. Racial Justice Act is effort for fairness.(North Carolina)(Speech)
June 16, 2008... Byline: William H. Neukom Editor's note: Following is a speech that William H. Neukom, president of the American Bar Association, delivered as the commencement speaker at Duke University Law School recently. Neukom is the president of the...

Commentary: For Lexington firm, practice is local, personal.(Brinkley Walser)(Company overview)
June 16, 2008... Byline: Cheryl Leone "Firms like ours will be challenged to maintain good client service and relationships while still keeping abreast of changes in technology and the diverse areas of law in which we assist clients. Like any business,...

Commentary: Case law can mean failure to ID proper defendant has draconian consequences.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Mark McGrath Our favorite plaintiff's attorney has just landed a career case. Damages, liability, causation, it's all there. A visiting Wall Street tycoon has been struck and killed by a truck bearing the name of the state's...

North Carolina Lawyers in the News: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Nexsen Pruet partner Jim Bryan was recently admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Bryan, who has been practicing law for 19 years, is a member of the business litigation group in the...

Bad faith finding was required for court to consider earning capacity, rules N.C. Court of Appeals.
June 16, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A Wake County court correctly ordered a husband to pay alimony even though his wife could potentially earn as much as $90,000 per year as a financial analyst, the Court of Appeals has ruled. ...

N.C. Indigent Defense Services exec Tye Hunter to depart agency after second term.
June 16, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger From his first years in the Fayetteville public defender's office to his past seven years as the founding executive director of the Office of Indigent Defense Services, Tye Hunter has dedicated himself to debunking the...

Glenda J. Russell named interim publisher at N.C. Lawyers Weekly.
June 16, 2008... Byline: N.C. Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Glenda J. Russell has been named interim publisher of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly and its two sister publications, South Carolina Lawyers Weekly and Carolina Paralegal News. Russell, who is...

North Carolina Legal Obituary: William Earl "Pot" Craft.(Obituary)(Brief article)
June 16, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney William Earl "Pot" Craft, 84, of Kenansville died June 4. Born in Greenville, N.C., on May 14, 1924, Craft was an Army veteran and served at Okinawa during World War II. During that...

N.C. Industrial Comm. Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.(North Carolina)
June 16, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation 'Arising Out Of' - Charity Basketball Game - Different Organization Osborne v. N.C. Crime Control & Public Safety. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-08-0671, 5 pp.) (Bernadine...

N.C. Safety & Health Review Comm. Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.(North Carolina)(Brief article)
June 16, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Labor & Employment Serious Violation - Failure to Inspect - 20-Foot Fall Risk Commissioner of Labor v. Steel Supply & Erection Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-14-0558, 5 pp.) (Oscar A. Keller...

N.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.(North Carolina)
June 16, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Real Property - Agency - Sale - Commission Austin Hatcher Realty, Inc. v. Arnold. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-16-0655, 13 pp.) (James A. Wynn Jr., J.) Appealed from Brunswick County...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.
June 16, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Fraudulent Transfer - Accounting Practice - Shell Corporation Terry v. Meredith. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-01-0665, 7 pp.) (Shedd, J.) No. 07-1509, June 3, 2008; USDC at Richmond,...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: June 16, 2008.(United States)
June 16, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Federal Jurisdiction - Diversity - Remand - N.C. Office Closed - Attorney Fees Denied Pascoe v. Buskro USA Ltd. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-02-0503, 4 pp.) (James C. Fox,...

N.C. Lawyers in the News: June 23, 2008.(North Carolina)
June 23, 2008... Byline: N.C. Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Female attorneys who have been licensed in North Carolina for at least 25 years were recently honored as "Women of Wisdom" by the Western North Carolina chapter of the N.C. Association of Women...

N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers picks name to match its mission.(North Carolina Advocates for Justice formerly known as North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger In a bid to improve its image and energize its membership, the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers has decided to change its name to North Carolina Advocates for Justice. Members voted overwhelmingly for the new name...

N.C. Supreme Court: Teacher didn't show class caused her anxiety.(North Carolina)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger The Supreme Court has ended a former school teacher's six-year effort to recover workers' compensation benefits for the generalized anxiety disorder she had blamed on her job at an Onslow County middle school. The...

The Jekyll & Hyde Phenomenon: Americans are of two minds with regard to lawyers.
June 23, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith People sometimes look disapprovingly at Greensboro attorney Locke Clifford when he tells them what he does for a living. "I tell them I'm a criminal defense lawyer," he said. "That's when they pull away and ask,...

Judge too heavily involved to hear contempt case, N.C. appeals court rules.(North Carolina)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger After a month of heated exchanges that started at calendar call and rolled on through trial, a judge cites an attorney for contempt. Would it make any sense to require the attorney to motion to have the same judge...

N.C. Supreme Court justices to look at incorporeal hereditaments.(North Carolina)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger The Supreme Court will determine whether a group of New Hanover County lot owners could assert a statutory time bar based on incorporeal hereditaments to defend against a claim that they had interfered with a private...

Under new president, N.C. Association of Defense Attorneys to continue legislative outreach.(Brian Beverly of North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys)
June 23, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck With a string of successes crowning its recent efforts in the General Assembly, the N.C. Association of Defense Attorneys elected Raleigh lawyer Brian Beverly as its president during its annual meeting June 14. ...

N.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.(North Carolina)
June 23, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Constitutional Substantive Due Process - Intrastate Travel - Municipal Park - Registered Sex Offender - Legitimate Government Interest - Rational Relationship Standley v. Town of...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: June 23, 2008.(United States)
June 23, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Mine Safety - Independent Contractor Violations Speed Mining Inc. v. Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Comm'n. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-01-0688, 15 pp.) (Wilkinson, J.) No....

Verdicts & Settlements June 23, 2008: Jury awards $7 million in medmal verdict.(medical malpractice)
June 23, 2008... Byline: N.C. Lawyers Weekly Staff Report A Beaufort County jury has awarded $7 million in damages to the family of a Chocowinity woman who died in June 1997 from blood clots that arose shortly after she switched from shots to pills for her...

NC Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: June 30, 2008.(North Carolina)
June 30, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Domestic Violence - Protective Order McNeill v. McNeill. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-16-0711, 3 pp.) (Stephens, J.) Appealed from the Randolph County District Court. (Stanley Peele,...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: June 30, 2008.
June 30, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights First Amendment - 'Government Speech' - Public School System Page v. Lexington County School District One. (Lawyers Weekly No. 08-01-0720) (19 pages) (Niemeyer, J.) No....

North Carolina Lawyers in the News: June 30, 2008.
June 30, 2008... Byline: N.C. Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Anna Baird Choi has joined the Raleigh law firm of Allen and Pinnix, where she will focus her practice on professional and occupational licensing, employment law and regulatory compliance. Choi...

N.C. Bar Association Board of Governors 2008.(North Carolina)(Brief article)
June 30, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The N.C. Bar Association elected new vice presidents and members of its Board of Governors at its annual meeting in Atlantic Beach. They will also serve on the board of directors of the NCBA...

N.C. Bar Association Citizen Lawyers 2008.(North Carolina)(Brief article)
June 30, 2008... Byline: N.C. Lawyers Weekly Staff Report The N.C. Bar Association presented 11 attorneys with its Citizen Lawyer awards during its annual meeting in Atlantic Beach. The award is given for exemplary community service, including public...

MySpace photos used against North Carolina injury plaintiff.
June 30, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger The plaintiff's story was the kind that demanded sympathy: A 21-year-old college student whose dream of becoming a teacher vanished after she collided with the defendant's dump truck and suffered a traumatic brain...

N.C. Bar Association to highlight injustice, expand on success of 4ALL.(North Carolina Bar Association on improving legal services)
June 30, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Vowing to expose injustices throughout North Carolina, Raleigh lawyer Charles Becton embarked on a campaign to improve the image of the legal profession June 28 as the new president of the N.C. Bar Association. ...

Speeches from appellate candidates' forum at N.C. Bar Association's annual meeting.(North Carolina)
June 30, 2008... Byline: N.C. Lawyers Weekly Staff Report An appellate candidates' forum was held June 21 at the N.C. Bar Association's annual meeting in Atlantic Beach. Following are the speeches from each candidate, with the exception of Court of Appeals...

N.C. Court of Appeals: Man who posted to Web bulletin board can't be sued in N.C.(North Carolina)
June 30, 2008... Byline: Guy Loranger Because an out-of-state defendant did not directly target North Carolina readers when he allegedly defamed a Guilford County businessman on an Internet bulletin board, he could not be haled into court here, the Court...

Verdicts & Settlements June 30, 2008: $580,000 settlement received in elderly crash victim's death.(Brief article)
June 30, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The decedent, a 75-year-old Vanceboro resident, was driving home in her 1994 Oldsmobile Ciera after eating lunch with her sister on Nov. 9, 2007. As she slowed and came to a complete stop to...

Verdicts & Settlements June 30, 2008: Wrongful death case against county settles for $1.75 million.
June 30, 2008... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A wrongful death case against a county and its emergency medical services has settled for $1.75 million following a pre-suit mediation. Winston-Salem attorneys Clifford Britt and John Chilson...