North Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from March 2005

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from March 2005

Federal judge reverses sanctions on bankruptcy lawyer.(Lacy Thornburg)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Ertel Berry A $5,000 sanction imposed on a bankruptcy lawyer for dragging out a case violated her due process rights to notice and a fair hearing, a federal judge has ruled. The trustee's request for sanctions didn't identify...

Verdicts & Settlements March 7, 2005: Condemnation of 2.81 acres in Southern Pines nets $1.225M.
March 7, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action: Land condemnation Injuries Alleged: Total taking of 2.81 acres of commercial property in Southern Pines Name of Case: Department of Transportation v. Patrick D. Molamphy...

Verdicts & Settlements March 7, 2005: Owner of Charlotte art gallery gets $986,000 in mediation.
March 7, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief Statement of Claim: DOT took 6,196 square feet of land and 18,000 square-foot building for train station in uptown Charlotte; deposit of $586,000; settled at mediation for $986,000 ...

Verdicts & Settlements March 7, 2005: Consumer counterclaim over auto repairs ends in settlement.
March 7, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief Statement of Claim: Auto repair sole proprietorship claiming to be a "pure trust" filed action and claimed materialman and possessory lien for repairs to auto; consumer counterclaimed for...

Verdicts & Settlements March 7, 2005: Mecklenburg jury returns $2M verdict for airport condemnation.
March 7, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief Statement of Claim: City took 3.6 acres for airport purposes; deposit of $845,500; Jury verdict of $2,000,000; interest from the date of deposit $169,724; $44,874 in costs taxed against the...

Verdicts & Settlements March 7, 2005: Inverse condemnation action brings settlement.
March 7, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief Statement of Claim: DOT filed condemnation action for temporary construction easement of 6,663 square feet for new highway; deposit of $3,600.00; counterclaim by landowner for inverse...

Commentary: Cross border trademark protection and the Madrid Protocol.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Eric Stevens The Madrid Protocol, an international trademark treaty, went into effect in the United States on November 2, 2003. This treaty will appreciably reduce the costs U.S. companies will pay to obtain overseas trademark...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 7, 2005.
March 7, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Avoidable Transfers - Post-Petition Interest Payments A debtor company's interest payments on a post-petition life insurance policy loan constituted avoidable transfers under...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Court Summaries: March 7, 2005.
March 7, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Federal Jurisdiction - Removal - Amtrak - Voluntary Dismissal - Tort/Negligence - Wrongful Death Where defendant Amtrak falls within the group of federally chartered...

U.S. District Court Western District Case Summaries: March 7, 2005.
March 7, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Sanctions - Bankruptcy Court - Constitutional - Due Process - Notice Where the appellee-trustee's request for sanctions failed to identify the chief specific conduct for which...

N.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 7, 2005.
March 7, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Civil Practice - Subject Matter Jurisdiction - Disbarment - Collateral Attack Where the plaintiff did not appeal his 1998 disbarment, the superior court lacked subject matter...

Tenth Judicial District holds public defender election.
March 7, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The Tenth Judicial District Bar held an election on Feb. 24 to select three nominees for the newly created public defender position in Wake County. The candidates/applicants receiving the...

NC Supreme Court rejects plaintiff's expert evidence in workers' comp case.(North Carolina)(workers compensation)
March 14, 2005... Byline: Ertel Berry The Supreme Court has reversed comp benefits for a woman who claimed long-term use of anti-inflammatory drugs for a back injury caused her kidneys to get worse. That decision, which adopted an Appeals Court judge's...

NC Court of Appeals rules reading deposition didn't waive defense right to close.
March 14, 2005... Byline: Ertel Berry An unpublished ruling addresses an important tactical consideration at trial: who gets to make the last argument to the jury? That issue is controlled by Rule 10 of the North Carolina General Rules of Practice for...

Leary Davis tapped to head Elon University Law School.
March 14, 2005... Byline: Michael Dayton Nearly three decades after launching Campbell's law school, Leary Davis has been chosen to head another law program this time for Elon University. At a news conference in Greensboro last week, Elon University...

Obituary of Lumberton lawyer Isley Murchison "Murk" Biggs.
March 14, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Lumberton Lawyer Isley Murchison "Murk" Biggs, 80, died Feb. 25, 2005. Born in Lumberton, he was a graduate of Wake Forest University, Wake Forest Law School and did postgraduate work at...

N.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 14, 2005.
March 14, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Personal Jurisdiction - Insufficient Contacts - Illinois Investment - Georgia Conference - Appeals Where our Court of Appeals held, Where plaintiff Vyas met defendant...

Arbitration of class action voided by NC Superior Court.(North Carolina)
March 14, 2005... Byline: Ertel Berry A Superior Court judge has struck an arbitration clause that would have stopped borrowers from pursuing a class action in Vance County over predatory lending claims. Although North Carolina courts have occasionally...

New public incentive comes to North Carolina: Amendment One permits tax increment financings.
March 14, 2005... Byline: David Jones and Jeff Brown As a result of voter approval of Amendment One on the statewide North Carolina ballot, North Carolina's Constitution has been amended to permit cities, towns and counties to issue a new form of debt known...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 14, 2005.
March 14, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Sex Discrimination - Title IX - Female Place Kicker - Attorney's Fees Even though Duke University contends plaintiff, an all-state high school place kicker who became the...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: March 14, 2005.
March 14, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Labor & Employment Civil Rights - Race Discrimination Claim - Unsatisfactory Performance - Civil Practice - Statute of Limitations Where the plaintiff's job duties included updating the...

U.S. District Court Middle District Case Summaries: March 14, 2005.
March 14, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Reconsideration Motion - Federal Jurisdiction - Labor & Employment - Tort/Negligence - FTCA Where the plaintiff alleges that her supervisor and co-workers conspired to...

NC Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: March 14, 2005.
March 14, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Pleadings - Verification - Rules Summary - Evidence - Church Dispute Even though the amended complaint was not verified, N.C. R. Civ. P. 11(d) does not require that a...

N.C. Administrative Hearings Case Summaries: March 14, 2005.
March 14, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Criminal Practice - Victim Compensation - Child Abuse - Mother's Therapy - Proximate Cause Where G.S. 15B-2(13) defines a victim as a "person who suffers personal injury...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 21, 2005.
March 21, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Appeals - 'Person Aggrieved' - Waiver In this Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding involving a broadcasting company, an individual owner of 55 percent of the broadcasting company's...

N.C. Appeals Court rules discharged firm cannot recover quantum meruit fee.
March 21, 2005... Byline: Ertel Berry A March 15 Appeals Court holding reiterates an exception to the general rule that lawyers who are fired while working on a contingency basis can still get fees on a quantum meruit theory. Quantum meruit is an...

Constangy, Brooks headquartering its business immigration practice in Winston-Salem.(Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLC)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The Winston-Salem Office of Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLC, a multi-state labor and employment law firm based in Atlanta, will be home to the firm's business immigration practice division,...

Verdicts & Settlements March 21, 2005: Worker wins $420,000 verdict for retaliatory discharge.
March 21, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Brief statement of claim: An African-American plaintiff filed a race discrimination charge with the EEOC after being passed over twice for promotion to store manager at a Waffle House owned by the...

Verdicts & Settlements March 21, 2005: Contractor wins $1.15M for government changes to demolition.
March 21, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of action: A contractor brought an action against the government under the Federal Acquisition Regulations for an equitable adjustment regarding a government-imposed changed condition to the...

Verdicts & Settlements March 21, 2005: Trucker gets $125,000 comp settlement for knee replacement.
March 21, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of action: Worker's compensation Injuries alleged: Knee replacement Name of case: Gammons v. Smith Brothers Trucking Court/county: Industrial Commission Case No.: I.C. File...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: March 21, 2005.
March 21, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Constitutional - Privileges & Immunities - Bar Admission - Comity - State of Practice Even though the plaintiff-attorney moved to North Carolina from California, a state with...

N.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 21, 2005.
March 21, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Medical Associations - Position Statement - Labor & Employment - Nurse Anesthetists Even though the respondent N.C. Board of Nursing sought to change the relationship...

Q&A with Mark Merritt, former Mecklenburg County Bar President.(Interview)
March 28, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff It's a post-Enron world and the advice that Charlotte lawyer Mark Merritt gives to his corporate clients has changed accordingly. "Directors should be very concerned about their individual...

Court of Appeals rules following-too-close charge not needed in rear-end wreck.(violation of traffic regulations)
March 28, 2005... Byline: Ertel Berry Even though a wreck defendant skidded into the rear of a plaintiff's car, a Guilford trial judge didn't commit reversible error by refusing to give instructions on following too closely, the Court of Appeals has ruled....

U.S. Eastern District Court rules ConAgra to receive profits lost from bad beef jerky packages.
March 28, 2005... Byline: Ertel Berry A food conglomerate that claimed a new beef jerky product was spoiled by defective packaging has obtained a $2.77 million consent judgment against the Argentine manufacturer and its U.S. subsidiary. The agreed...

For-profit group announces launch of Charlotte School of Law.
March 28, 2005... Byline: Michael Dayton Several local universities have flirted with the idea of a Charlotte law school but a private, for-profit group apparently will be the first to get one off the ground. On March 18, the InfiLaw Consortium of Law...

Rauscher poised for new federal defender's job serving Charlotte and Western N.C.(interview)(North Carolina)(Interview)
March 28, 2005... Byline: Susan Shackelford On April 1, Claire J. Rauscher begins her new job as executive director of the new federal defender's office serving Charlotte and Western North Carolina. The private nonprofit will serve indigent criminal...

Constangy, Brooks & Smith headquartering business immigration practice in Winston-Salem.(Brief Article)
March 28, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The Winston-Salem Office of Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLC, a multi-state labor and employment law firm based in Atlanta, will be home to the firm's business immigration practice division,...

N.C. District Judge rules Cumberland County couple's separation agreement was void for vagueness.
March 28, 2005... Byline: Ertel Berry Vague and inconsistent provisions in a Cumberland County couple's separation agreement made it unenforceable, the Appeals Court has held. The unpublished ruling affirms District Court Judge Kimbrell Kelly Tucker,...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 28, 2005.
March 28, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Multidistrict Litigation - Wireless Cell Phones - Consumer Protection - Unsafe Radiation In this multidistrict litigation involving five consolidated class actions...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: March 28, 2005.
March 28, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Venue - Contract - Forum Selection Clause - Federal Construction Project Where two commercial parties agreed in an arms'-length transaction that their disputes would be...

U.S. District Court Western District Case Summaries: March 28, 2005.
March 28, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Labor & Employment Civil Rights - Race Discrimination Claim - Failure to Promote - Hostile Environment - Retaliation - Statute of Limitations Even though the plaintiff cites examples of...

NC Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: March 28, 2005.
March 28, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Labor & Employment - Professional Certification - Substance Abuse - Endangering Public Where the petitioner-substance abuse counselor instructed an employee to drive a...

N.C. Administrative Hearings Case Summaries: March 28, 2005.
March 28, 2005... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Medicaid - Adolescent Services - Reactive Attachment Disorder - Out-of- State Treatment Where the petitioner's well-qualified experts agree that the petitioner should be...

Commentary: For The Firm: Finding the right person for the right job.
March 28, 2005... Byline: Cheryl J. Leone Any successful law firm owner will tell you that hiring the right person for the right job is the hardest part of employee management. You are investing a great deal of time, energy and money in an individual you...