North Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from November 2006

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from November 2006

Commentary: Establishing agency in medical malpractice cases Part I: The basics.(Column)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Mark McGrath It is an all too familiar story. With 9(j) opinions in hand, and a month to go before the statute runs, you file your blue ribbon medical malpractice case. From your perfectly organized set of medical records, you...

North Carolina Lawyers in the News: November 6, 2006.(Wyatt, Early, Harris, Wheeler and Hauser)
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff In High Point, four lawyers at Wyatt Early Harris Wheeler have been busy outside the office recently. Doyle Early, a certified specialist in the family law litigation section, spoke at the family...

Verdicts & Settlements November 6, 2006: Mother gets $400,000 judgment over embalming of son's body.(Alexandra Klinger v. SCI North Carolina Funeral Services)
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of action: Mishandling of corpse; negligence; emotional distress Injuries alleged: Pain and suffering; emotional distress; punitive damages Name of case: Alexandra Klinger v. SCI...

Advice to skip deposition costs lawyer $3,000.(Jeter v. Asheville Maintenance and Construction)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Ertel Berry A lawyer who advised a client to skip a deposition must pay $3,000 to reimburse the other side's legal fees and expenses to compel attendance, a federal judge has ruled. Given the client's status as an hourly-wage...

Mother gets $400,000 award on claim son's body mishandled.(Alexandra Klinger v. SCI North Carolina Funeral Services)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Ertel Berry A mother who claimed a Wilmington funeral home negligently mishandled her son's body -- by following his fiancee's instructions to embalm him instead of releasing the remains to the family -- has won a $400,000...

State Bar delays action on nonpayment of $50 surcharge.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Michael Dayton Six attorneys who refused to pay a $50 State Bar surcharge must wait three months to find out whether their licenses will be suspended. A Bar committee that could have recommended suspension met in October but...

Court of Appeals withdraws unpublished opinion.(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: Ertel Berry The Court of Appeals has withdrawn an unpublished opinion that dismissed a case because a certificate of service wasn't in the record. As reported in an Oct. 30 article, some attorneys believed the appeals panel's...

Three Administrative Law Judges appointed.(Donald W. Overby, Joe L. Webster and Selina M. Brooks )
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Chief Administrative Law Judge Julian Mann III has announced the appointment of Donald W. Overby, Joe L. Webster and Selina M. Brooks each to the position of administrative law judge in the Office...

Benson lawyer Joseph H. Levinson dies.(Obituary)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Benson lawyer Joseph H. Levinson, 87, died Oct. 25. Born in Harnett County, he entered Duke University at age 15, where he received his undergraduate and law degrees. A starter on Duke's...

N.C. Administrative Hearings Case Summaries: November 6, 2006.(North Carolina)(Worley v. N.C. Dept. of Health & Human Service)(North Carolina Wildlife Federation v. N.C. Division of Water Quality)
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Medicaid - Care Provider - Petitioner's Mother - Adequate Justification Where the petitioner has unique impairments that make the recruitment and maintenance of paid...

N.C. Industrial Comm. Case Summaries: November 6, 2006.(North Carolina)(Bennett v. Sheraton Grand)
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers Compensation Average Weekly Wage - Constructive Admission - Form 60 - Failure to File Where (1) the defendants did not file a Form 60 or otherwise notify the Industrial...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: November 6, 2006.
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Bankruptcy - Debtors' Counsel - Standard of Care - Sanctions Where debtors' original counsel failed to competently represent them and failed to report his fees to the court as...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case summaries: November 6, 2006.
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Immigration - Aggravated Felony - Deportation - Naturalized Parent An Ethiopian national whose most recent convictions were for two counts of felony theft, attempted car...

U.S. District Court Eastern District Case Summaries: November 6, 2006.
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Elections Constitutional - Free Speech - Judges - Public Financing - Taxation Where the plaintiffs have failed to show they are likely to succeed on their claims that North Carolina's...

U.S. District Court Middle District Case Summaries: November 6, 2006.(Cone v. Randolph County Schools Board of Education)
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Schools & School Boards - IDEA - Civil Practice - Preliminary Injunction Motion - 'Stay Put' Where the plaintiff-parents deliberately delayed their son's enrollment in an...

U.S. District Court Western District Case Summaries: November 6, 2006.(Conbraco Industries v. Kemper Insurance Companies)(Volvo Trademark Holding Aktiebolaget v. CLM Equipment Co.)
November 6, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Insurance - Unsigned Policy Renewals - Enforcement - Forum Selection Even though the renewals of the parties' insurance policies were unsigned, the defendant-insurer can...

Burns named to Raleigh City Council Environmental Advisory Board.(John D. Burns)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff John D. Burns, an associate with the Raleigh office of Hunton & Williams LLP, was named as vice chairman of the Raleigh City Council's Environmental Advisory Board. The City Council...

Office of Administrative Hearings in N.C. names three new administrative law judges.(Donald W. Overby, Joe L. Webster and Selina M. Brooks)
November 13, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Donald W. Overby, Joe L. Webster and Selina M. Brooks have been named as administrative law judges in the Office of Administrative Hearings. Overby, a Raleigh native, served for two terms as...

Parker Poe adds two Charlotte lawyers.(Kevin Chapman and Mark Stevenson joins Parker, Poe, Adams and Bernstein)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Two associates have joined the Charlotte office of Parker Poe, the firm has announced. Kevin Chapman has joined the business law practice group. His practice involves a broad range of...

Raleigh paralegal wins National Rookie of the Year Award.(Julianne Fink)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Julianne Fink, a paralegal with Kennedy Covington, has been awarded the Rookie of the Year Award by Legal Assistant Today magazine. Fink was selected by the magazine's editorial advisory board...

N.C. Lawyers in the News: November 13, 2006.(North Carolina)(Douglas J. Brocker and Deanna S. Brocker)(Gilbert W. File )
November 13, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Douglas J. Brocker and Deanna S. Brocker have opened a Raleigh law practice, The Brocker Law Firm, P.A. The firm concentrates in professional licensing, ethics, and disciplinary matters before...

University of N.C. building named for Smith Moore founding partner.(North Carolina)(Brief article)
November 13, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The University of North Carolina at Greensboro dedicated two new buildings as part of the university's Founders Day, one of which was named for a founding partner of the law firm now known as...

Lawyer's letters to judge in N.C. covered by Rule 11 sanctions.(North Carolina)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Ertel Berry An attorney's letters to a trial judge about a proposed settlement order could expose him to Rule 11 sanctions, according to a first-impression holding from the Appeals Court. The letters were subject to Rule 11 if...

No 'forgiveness' for appellate rule errors, panel in N.C. says.(North Carolina)(Stann v. Levine )
November 13, 2006... Byline: Ertel Berry A divided Appeals Court has dismissed yet another case for appellate rules violations -- this time for defects ranging from faulty line spacing to an assignment of error that didn't specify whether a jurisdictional...

N.C. Court of Appeals affirms dismissal of libel case between Moore County officials.(North Carolina)(Griffin v. Holden)
November 13, 2006... Byline: Michael Dayton The Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a libel suit a former Moore County manager brought against a county commissioner who criticized him in the press. The case is Griffin v. Holden (North Carolina...

N.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: November 13, 2006.(North Carolina)(Dunn v. Canoy)(Stann v. Levine)
November 13, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Rule 11 - Sanctions - Letters to Judge - 'Other Papers' - Inherent Authority - Amount of Sanction - Judges Where defense counsel's letters to the trial judge were sent with the...

N.C. Industrial Comm. Case Summaries: November 13, 2006.(North Carolina)(Williams v. C R Hassinger Grading)(James v. Collier Cleaning Services)
November 13, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers Compensation Occupational Disease - Causation - Increased Risk - Backhoe Driver Even though the plaintiff's treating physician rendered a general opinion involving the plaintiff's...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: November 13, 2006.(U.S. v. Chase)
November 13, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Practice Sentencing - Drug Dealer - Acceptance of Responsibility - Plea Agreement A defendant who failed to pay a special assessment called for in a plea agreement, and who only...

Commentary: Increased development of N.C.'s coast leads to stricter regulations.(North Carolina)
November 20, 2006... Byline: Stanford D. Baird More and more it seems that every North Carolinian wants a vacation home or retirement home on the North Carolina coast. The beach cottages and fishing piers of generations ago have given way in many areas to...

Missed hearing equals missed chance to oppose amendment, Court of Appeals rules.(Roy Burt Enterprises, Inc. v. Marsh)
November 20, 2006... Byline: Michael Dayton A defendant who missed a July 2005 hearing that he requested also missed his chance to block a plaintiff from amending his complaint to avoid the statute of limitations, the Court of Appeals has ruled in an...

North Carolina Attorney Obituaries: November 20, 2006.(Richard C. Erwin)(George H. Esser)(Lisa Thompson Kelly)(Obituary)
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Richard C. Erwin Judge Richard Cannon Erwin of Winston-Salem, died Nov. 7 at age 83. A native of Marion, he received his bachelor's degree from Johnson C. Smith University in 1947 and his...

N.C. Business Court Case Summaries: November 20, 2006.(North Carolina)
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Personal Jurisdiction - Minimum Contacts - Loan to N.C. Company - Receivership - Fraudulent Transfer - Insufficient Allegations Even though the third-party defendant has...

NC Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: November 20, 2006.(North Carolina)
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Church Bylaws - Evidence - Proper Adoption - Expulsion Where there was sufficient evidence that the defendant-church's original bylaws were properly adopted and were later...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: November 20, 2006.
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Immigration - Derivative Citizenship Claim - Removal Order A petitioner who has failed to prove that his parents were legally separated, for purposes of U.S. immigration...

U.S. District Court Middle District Case Summaries: November 20, 2006.(Curtis B. Pearson Music Co. v. McFadyen Music, Inc.)
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Tort/Negligence Fraud - Unfair Trade Practices - Contract - Corporate Sale - Added Line Where the plaintiff-sellers approved a final version of a contract to sell their music company to...

U.S. District Court Western District Case Summaries: November 20, 2006.
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Default - Conditional Vacatur - Attorney's Fees - Defense - Bankruptcy Where the defendants made no showing of a meritorious defense, the bankruptcy court did not err in...

Morgan designates Guilford Education Alliance for honorarium.(James F. "Jim" Morgan)(Brief article)
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The culmination of High Point attorney James F. "Jim" Morgan's recognition as the 2006 recipient of the North Carolina Bar Association Foundation's Dr. I. Beverly Lake Sr. Public Service Award...

Max R. Rodden joins Smith Debnam in Raleigh.(Smith Debnam Narron Wyche Saintsing & Myers LLP )(Brief article)
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Max R. Rodden has recently joined the litigation section of Smith Debnam Narron Wyche Saintsing & Myers, LLP in Raleigh. He will concentrate his practice in family law and civil litigation....

Greensboro firm names partner, adds attorneys.(Forman Rossabi Black appoints Emily Meister, Angela Bullard-Gram, Brian Walker and Ashley Collier)(Brief article)
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The Greensboro law firm of Forman Rossabi Black, PA, has named Emily Meister as a partner and added three attorneys -- Angela Bullard-Gram, Brian Walker and Ashley Collier. Meister practices...

Ogletree Deakins expands presence In Charlotte.(Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak and Stewart appoints G. Scott Humphrey and H. Bernard Tisdale III )(Brief article)
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The labor and employment law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak, & Stewart, P.C. has added two attorneys to its Charlotte office. G. Scott Humphrey and H. Bernard Tisdale III have joined...

Judge Rose V. Williams will be DOI Legislative Counsel.(Rose Vaughn Williams appointed Insurance Commissioner Jim Long's staff)(Brief article)
November 20, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Judge Rose Vaughn Williams of Goldsboro will join Insurance Commissioner Jim Long's staff as legislative counsel. Most recently, she served as a District Court judge in the eighth Judicial...

A quick look at Conference of Chief Justices guidelines on electronic discovery.(Bank of America Corporation v. SR International Business Insurance Company, LTD)
November 20, 2006... Byline: Ertel Berry In two Nov. 1 Business Court opinions, Judge Ben Tennille charts a road map for deciding when to allow discovery of electronically-stored data, and determining who should pay for it. In Tennille's view, trial judges...

Electronic discovery okayed in Business Court case.(Case overview)
November 20, 2006... Byline: Ertel Berry Two first-impression Business Court opinions address an issue of growing concern to litigators and their clients -- to what extent is electronic data stored on backup tapes discoverable, and which party should pay to...

North Carolina lawyers receive recognition.(John P. Marshall)(Brief article)
November 27, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff John P. Marshall of White & Allen in Kinston was selected to serve on the board of directors of the Foundation of Renewal of Eastern North Carolina (FoR ENC). Formerly a shareholder in White &...

Sixteen North Carolina lawyers and one trial judge participate in cycling team.(Brief article)
November 27, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Sixteen North Carolina lawyers and one trial judge were members of the 87-member Selma Cyclepaths cycling team in the 18th annual MS 150 Bike Tour on Sept. 9-10. For the second consecutive...

North Carolina Bar's Board of Legal Specialization announces new certified specialists.
November 27, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The following lawyers have been certified as specialists by the Bar's Board of Legal Specialization. Bankruptcy Law: Gene B. Tarr - Business. Criminal Law: Janna D. Allison - State;...

North Carolina court rules fee-shifting statute didn't cover pro bono alimony work.(Patronelli v. Patronelli)
November 27, 2006... Byline: Ertel Berry A Nov. 17 ruling from the state Supreme Court isn't likely to stop attorneys from doing volunteer legal work -- but it won't encourage them to do more of it either. In Patronelli v. Patronelli (North Carolina...

North Carolina Supreme Court opinion means 10-year threat of lawsuit after adulterous affair.
November 27, 2006... Byline: Ertel Berry Although the normal time limit for filing a claim for criminal conversation is three years, a Supreme Court opinion means the threat of a lawsuit can hang over a person's head for up to 10 years after an adulterous...

Fight over North Carolina Bar comity admission pending at U.S. Supreme Court.
November 27, 2006... Byline: Michael Dayton If comity admission to the North Carolina Bar were based just on experience or expertise, Steven C. Morrison would be a shoo-in. Morrison, who lives in Apex, has practiced law for 27 years and passed bar exams in...

North Carolina attorney Roger Edwards dies.(Obituary)(Brief article)
November 27, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Oak Island attorney Roger Edwards, 53, died Nov. 14. He was Oak Island's town attorney. A graduate of Campbell law school, he moved to the Oak Island area more than a decade ago. He was town...

North Carolina Business Court Case Summaries: November 27, 2006.
November 27, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Pleadings - Amendment - State RICO Claim - Securities - First Impression Where all of the predicate acts in the plaintiffs' proposed state RICO claim involve fraud in the...

North Carolina Court of Appeals Case Summaries: November 27, 2006.(Baker v. Charlotte Motor Speedway, Inc.)(Sellers v. Ochs)
November 27, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Discovery - Sanction - Dismissal - Medical Records - Prior Workers' Comp Claim - Memory Lapse Even though the plaintiff blames his faulty memory for his failure to produce...

North Carolina Supreme Court Case Summaries: Novemeber 27, 2006.(Good Hope Health System, L.L.C. v. North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services)
November 27, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Certificate of Need - Hospital - Civil Practice - Appeals - Mootness Even though the petitioner's 2003 and 2005 certificate of need applications proposed similar projects,...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: November 27, 2006.
November 27, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Real Property - Automatic Stay - Deed of Trust Recordation - Entireties Property Even though the deed of trust recorded post-petition by creditor Garrett was on entireties...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: November 27, 2006.(Omega World Travel Inc. v. Mummagraphics Inc.)
November 27, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Commercial CAN- SPAM - Preemption - Okla. Law - 'Bare Error' Even though a federal statute, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography & Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM...

U.S. Western District Court Case Summaries: November 27, 2006.(Johnson v. Mechanics & Farmers Bank)
November 27, 2006... Byline: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Discovery - Labor & Employment - Age Discrimination Claim - Personnel Files - Replacements - Subordinates Even though the plaintiff's co-executives are certainly...