Appellate Briefs

The Court of Appeals’ latest batch of opinions includes several reminders about the importance of proving that appellate jurisdiction is proper in an appellant’s opening brief.  Not in a conclusory

Continue Reading Relying on a Motion to Dismiss Response to Address Appellate Jurisdiction Arguments?  Maybe Don’t Count on It

Last year, I blogged about State v. Ellis where a passing motorist gave a Highway Patrol trooper the middle-finger salute and was arrested for his trouble.  A divided Court of
Continue Reading Appellate Rulings Not Argued By Any Party; or Too Many Fingers in the Pie

Back in March, the Court of Appeals in Ramsey v. Ramsey dismissed a party’s appeal for cumulative non-jurisdictional violations that the Court described as “gross and substantial noncompliance with the
Continue Reading Is Dogwood’s Bark Losing Its Bite?

On Friday, the Supreme Court displayed how busy it has been this summer by releasing 17 authored opinions.  Justice Per Curiam (who is fond of affirming/reversing “for the reasons
Continue Reading Taking Care of Business (Part I): Rule 3.1 No-Merit Briefs Warrant (At Least Some Form of) Appellate Review

There is perhaps no truer aphorism of appellate jurisdiction than this: The substantial right doctrine is more easily stated than applied.  In light of the Court of Appeals’ opinion last
Continue Reading You Can Say That Again: The Substantial Right Doctrine Is More Easily Stated Than Applied

The Supreme Court stated in Dogwood v. White Oak, 362 N.C. 191, 657 S.E.2d 361 (2008), that noncompliance with nonjurisdictional rules normally should not lead to the dismissal of an
Continue Reading When Do Appellate Rules Violations Rise To The Level Of Jurisdictional Requirements?