A dissenting opinion in the Court of Appeals has long been a litigant’s Golden Ticket, at least until a recent statutory change. The mere existence of the dissent bestowed an automatic right of appeal to the Supreme Court of...more
Can an appellee say that the lower court got it wrong? If so, when? In many appeals, the alignment of interests is clear: the appellant is the party who disagrees with the ruling at issue, and the appellee is the party who...more
Petitions for the writ of certiorari are a fairly routine part of North Carolina appellate practice and procedure, but the Appellate Rules do not provide much guidance on what those petitions should contain. Under Rule...more
For both civil and criminal appeals, the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure require an appealing party who is filing a written notice of appeal to identify “the judgment or order from which appeal is taken.”...more
When you hear about an appellate decision, what comes to mind? Typically, I think of a formal “opinion”—at least when the appeal has been briefed on the merits. And historically, I have thought of an “order” as a short...more
Back in November, I wrote about the possibility of a fee award being immediately appealable if the amount in question is significant enough. In the latest batch of opinions from the Court of Appeals, that issue reared its...more
There was a time when I thought of a writ of prohibition as a mythical creature that only exists in fairy tales. As it turns out, the writ does exist. And in a decision on the writ that was entered this week, the Court of...more
Normally, an interlocutory order awarding attorney fees is not immediately appealable because it does not affect a substantial right that will be lost absent immediate review. But is there a potential exception to that rule...more
You are invited to attend the Appellate Practice Section’s “Fireside Chat with the Chiefs” this Thursday, May 6th, at 1:00 p.m...more
As you no doubt have noticed, virtually every batch of opinions from our State appellate courts includes at least one “Rule 3.1” case involving allegations of abuse, neglect, or dependency. What you may forget is that each...more
If there is no binding precedent on point, where does the Supreme Court of North Carolina look for guidance? Which are more persuasive: federal court opinions or North Carolina Court of Appeals opinions? Does the answer to...more
It has been more than a year since the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court have held in-person oral arguments. Thankfully, the appellate courts have been able to continue their important work by utilizing technology to hold...more
In case you missed the invitation, the Appellate Practice Section is hosting a virtual event at noon next Monday so that members of the bar can get to know the new justices on the Supreme Court and new judges on the Court of...more
As mentioned previously, several new judges are joining the Court of Appeals this month. Similar to the Supreme Court’s ceremony, the investiture ceremony for these new judges will be held virtually at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday,...more
In its most recent set of petition rulings, the Supreme Court of North Carolina added five new cases to its discretionary docket. These cases involve:
•the scope of the North Carolina False Claims Act;
•the evidence...more
A writ of certiorari is a discretionary, extraordinary writ—and is therefore never granted as a matter of right. See, e.g., King v. Taylor, 188 N.C. 450, 451, 124 S.E. 751, 751 (1924) (explaining that the writ “is allowed...more
It doesn’t take long for those who read judicial opinions to come across an unsigned, “per curiam” decision. Many decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, federal circuit courts, and our state Supreme Court are short-ish...more
Here is a compilation of the current status of the federal appellate courts and announcements about their respective changes, closings, and procedures as of the afternoon of March 19, 2020. Click on the name of the court to...more
Out of a total of 24 opinions, the Supreme Court’s most recent set of opinions included nine criminal cases, three terminations of parental rights, and six direct appeals from Business Court decisions.
Of those six...more
Our state appellate courts have long held that a timely notice of appeal is a jurisdictional requirement. See, e.g., State v. Patterson. (For an interesting discussion on this topic, see section 28.02[3] in Beth and Matt’s...more
Back in June, the Supreme Court of North Carolina sought feedback on a potential change to the citation format for North Carolina appellate court opinions. This week, the Court has officially made plans for the universal...more
No, this post is not a tribute to David Ives. In many appellate cases, it really is all in the timing.
Some appellate rules regarding timing are easy to state. The deadlines to file a notice of appeal, an opening brief,...more
The trial judge who presides over a hearing or trial is supposed to, and usually does, sign the resulting written order. But what happens if that normal process is not followed? What options do the parties have?
Last week,...more
The Supreme Court of North Carolina is exploring a proposal to adopt a universal citation format for North Carolina appellate court opinions. The format would implement sequential numbers for all opinions and a...more
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of North Carolina published its internal “Guidebook” for citation, style, and usage.
You may recall that a few years back, a lawyer obtained a copy of and began selling the U.S....more