In Pounds, et al. v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, the North Carolina Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion that may have a significant impact on collections law and arbitrability.
Defendant is an entity that purchases consumer debt. Plaintiffs are individual credit card holders who had racked unpaid bills on their cards. Defendant purchased the debts of those individual plaintiffs, then brought suit and obtained default judgments against each.… Continue Reading
With the reworking of N.C.G.S. § 7A-27 to provide a direct appeal to the Supreme Court of North Carolina from certain orders of the North Carolina Business Court, it was expected that our State’s highest court would start churning out business law opinions. The batch of opinions from the Supreme Court released on December 7th contained three opinions originating from the Business Court, but only two of these came directly from the Business Court; perhaps the most high profile of the bunch (Corwin v.… Continue Reading
Our goal in creating this blog was to be a “one-stop shop” for news, information, tips, and resources involving North Carolina appellate practice and procedure. Over a five-year period, NCAPB.com’s content has grown significantly. One area of law that has contributed to that expansion has been North Carolina Business Court appeals. In particular, the NCAPB team has blogged extensively over the past two years on at least seven different appellate traps that have emerged in Business Court cases. … Continue Reading
Over the past few months, we have shared several potential problems created by the Business Court Modernization Act. Nonetheless, we held a few potential traps close to our vest because, frankly, we were unsure if any of the unique circumstances necessary to trigger the traps would arise. Recently, we changed our mind on the improbability of those scenarios based on an October 8 order from the North Carolina Business Court. … Continue Reading
The North Carolina Supreme Court agreed Friday to review a Court of Appeals decision that raised concerns among North Carolina accountants over their ability to perform independent audits in conformity with applicable professional standards requiring independence and objective, impartial judgment.
In Commscope Credit Union v. Butler & Burke, LLP, the Court of Appeals considered a dispute between a credit union (Commscope) and its auditing firm (Butler & Burke).… Continue Reading
The workload of the Supreme Court of North Carolina just increased substantially. The governor’s office announced yesterday that he had signed Senate Bill 853, which strengthens our State’s flagship business courts and provides business court litigants direct appellate access to the Supreme Court.
As we noted before, the new law reworks N.C. Gen. Stat. 7A-27 to redirect appeals of business court decisions from the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court. … Continue Reading
Approximately two months ago, I blogged on the Business Court’s dismissal of an appeal not filed with the Business Court by the 5:00 p.m. notice of appeal deadline. On Tuesday, the Business Court dismissed another appeal—this time for failure to file the notice of appeal with the clerk of the Superior Court by the notice of appeal deadline.
Editor’s Note: The Business Court adopted a new set of Rules, effective January 1, 2017 to all cases. The case below was decided under the old Business Court Rules. For more on how the new rules treat timely filing, click here.
Yesterday, Mack Sperling posted on his first-rate North Carolina Business Litigation Report Blog about an appeal that was dismissed by the Business Court as untimely. … Continue Reading
An interlocutory appeal can really throw a wrench in the orderly progress of a case. A party may have a colorable argument that the trial court wrongly decided an issue that affects a “substantial right,” which gives the party a right to immediately appeal. N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-277(a). A proper notice of appeal from such an order divests the trial court of jurisdiction over “the matter embraced” by the order on appeal. … Continue Reading
In a big day for civil litigation, the Supreme Court of North Carolina on Wednesday issued a watershed opinion limiting the scope of actions under Chapter 75 (the Unfair and Deceptive Practices Act) and a significant decision favoring arbitration agreements. Most surprising, however, was the Court’s granting of discretionary review in four civil cases of substantial importance to business and other civil interests. … Continue Reading