This year, the North Carolina Mock Trial Program, in conjunction with the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism (CJCP) and the May 20th Society, will offer the chance to learn about our State’s rich history and our...more
Isn’t “secure leave” wonderful? It’s the one time YOUR schedule overrides the COURT schedule. Just designate a week or two or three, at least 90 days in advance, and you are off the hook for in-court appearances....more
Dissent-based appeals of right might stick around a little longer than we thought. The 2023 budget bill struck N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-30(2), which had allowed for an appeal of right to the Supreme Court whenever “there is a...more
For many moons, North Carolina was one of the few jurisdictions in which the losing party at the Court of Appeals could pursue an appeal as of right to the Supreme Court if the party managed to snag a dissenting opinion from...more
The North Carolina Supreme Court is not stingy with extensions. If a lawyer needs more time to file a brief, the Court will generally allow it. But with the Court largely caught up on its docket, you might not want to bank...more
A decade ago, talk of fonts was all the rage in North Carolina appellate circles. Jurists were increasingly reading briefs on screens, not on paper. And what works on paper might not work so well on an iPad. (Here’s looking...more
So much of the law is geared towards addressing what happens when two black-letter principles apply simultaneously but point to different outcomes. The Court of Appeals had to resolve just such a conflict this week in In...more
The North Carolina Supreme Court today agreed to review a Court of Appeals decision limiting the immunity enjoyed by healthcare professionals under a Covid-era statute. In May 2020, the pandemic was raging. Our General...more
I wrote a few days ago about some practitioners experiencing problems with overzealous spam filters catching important notices from our appellate courts. To be clear, this is a user-side issue, not a problem with the...more
Trigger warning: this post may cause appellate lawyers to have nightmares. There has been a spate of technical glitches lately that caused critical notices from the North Carolina Court of Appeals to end up in “quarantine”...more
If you have a case pending before the North Carolina Supreme Court and haven’t yet received an oral argument notice, your case likely won’t be argued until the fall.
The North Carolina Supreme Court does not have an...more
I’m often asked by younger lawyers and law students how a person goes about becoming an appellate lawyer. It’s tricky, because most firms and organizations hoard their plum appellate opportunities for their most experienced...more
Amici will soon have more opportunities to share their views with our North Carolina appellate courts. Currently, our Appellate Rules expressly allow for amicus participation at the merits-briefing stage. N.C. R. App. P....more
In a short order issued last week, the North Carolina Supreme Court narrowly voted to vacate a Court of Appeals’ opinion in connection with dismissing an appeal on mootness grounds. Well, I said that the order was short, but...more
Today, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued an order rescinding its 2020 order implementing a “universal citation” system.
The change has to do with this question: How do you cite to a recently issued case? Sure, the...more
After three years of service as the Dean of Regent University Law School in Virginia, former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin is coming home. High Point University announced today that the Chief will...more
This week, the Court of Appeals added some nuance to an issue that has plagued appellants for many years: the calculation of the appeal period when a judgment is not properly served but an appellant nonetheless has “actual...more
Generally, you can ask a judge to change her mind, but you can’t ask her to change a different judge’s mind. For example, at the trial-court level, a judge can revise her own interlocutory order under Rule 54(b), but one...more
At a largely virtual investiture ceremony broadcast this morning on the Supreme Court’s Youtube page, The Honorable Paul Martin Newby took the oath of office to become our highest court’s 30th Chief Justice. Newly minted...more
The new year will bring many changes to our state appellate courts. Another big change was announced yesterday. With Court of Appeals Chief Judge Linda McGee retiring after over 25 years of service, Chief Justice Cheri...more
Over the weekend, the last undecided race for North Carolina’s appellate courts was resolved when Chief Justice Cheri Beasley conceded the race to Senior Associate—and Chief Justice-Elect—Paul Newby. The race was...more
A lot of mistakes can be fixed, but those depriving an appellate court of jurisdiction are not usually among them. Unless the appellate court deems the appeal to raise issues of great importance and to present a compelling...more
After three years of exemplary service to our State, Matt Sawchak will step down as Solicitor General effective March 31, 2020. General Sawchak–soon just “Matt” or “Professor Sawchak” again–has represented the State with...more
It continues to amaze me how difficult it is for the public to access basic information about the upcoming elections for open seats on the Supreme Court of North Carolina and the Court of Appeals. While stories with political...more
Students of history will remember a bygone era known as late 2018, when Mark Martin was Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, the median judge on the shrinking Court of Appeals was elected in 2012, and your...more