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
It’s been a hot topic for years: does the North Carolina Supreme Court want to hear from amici when the Court is weighing whether to allow discretionary review of a decision of the Court of Appeals?
You can see why amicus...more
Cheri Beasley took the formal oath today at her investiture ceremony, becoming the 29th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina and the first African-American woman to hold the post.
As over a thousand...more
Suppose an appellate judge casts the deciding vote in a case, creating a majority in support of the lead opinion. Before the opinion is released, however, the judge retires or dies. Does his or her vote still count?...more
After two years of uncertainty about the future of the Court of Appeals, there appears to have been a breakthrough. Yesterday, a bill was introduced by Republicans in the North Carolina Senate that would preserve the size of...more
Governor Cooper has named Associate Justice Cheri Beasley to be the next Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Justice Beasley will assume the post upon the retirement of Chief Justice Mark Martin at the end of...more
Clerk of the Supreme Court of North Carolina Amy Funderburk announced by e-mail Friday that December oral arguments in the Supreme Court will be postponed until after the new year.
Such schedule changes are the norm in...more