Last Friday, the Supreme Court of North Carolina issued a number of opinions. One of the most notable was State v. Stubbs. In that case the Court addressed whether
Continue Reading Supreme Court of North Carolina Amends Appellate Rule 21
Criminal Appeals
Appellate Procedure and Preservation of Errors: They Matter!
By Beth Scherer on
While reading through the latest batch of opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals, I was struck (again) by how often appellate cases are not decided on the merits…
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Federal Prosecutors Will Forego Inserting “Appellate Waivers” into Plea Deals
By Matthew Nis Leerberg on
Is it fair for the government to require a criminal defendant to waive his right to appeal as part of accepting a plea agreement? Such “appellate waivers” have become quite…
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Interlocutory Appeals: Unique Considerations in Criminal Cases Involving the Suppression of Evidence and in Cases Involving Sovereign Immunity
By Fox Rothschild LLP on
Readers of our blog may be interested in a few nuggets concerning interlocutory appeals that appeared in the slate of opinions that the North Carolina Court of Appeals published on…
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All I Really Need to Know About Appellate Practice I Learned in Kindergarten?
By Patrick M. Kane on
Follow the rules. It’s a straightforward concept, but one that can sometimes be inadvertently overlooked. And while we ordinarily blog here about civil appeals, occasionally there is a holding in…
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By The Numbers: Likelihood of Reversal in the Fourth Circuit and the North Carolina Court of Appeals
By Beth Scherer on
Jerry Hartzell recently published an article in the April 2014 issue of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice’s Trial Briefs. The article is entitled “Probability of Success on…
No objection, No problem: Court of Appeals grants new trial on ground not raised by trial counsel
By Matthew Nis Leerberg on
As a general rule, an appellate issue is only preserved if you first object before the trial court. N.C. R. App. P. 10(a)(1). The Court of Appeals reminded us…
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Newly Published “Guide to Appealability of Interlocutory Orders” Creates Starting Point for Interlocutory Appeal Research
By Beth Scherer on
The Supreme Court of North Carolina long ago observed that “the ‘substantial right’ test for appealability of interlocutory orders is more easily stated than applied.” Waters v. Qualified Pers., Inc.…
Issues of Jurisdiction
By Kip D. Nelson on
While the substantive issues in a case are often the most interesting and the most contested, the issue of jurisdiction underlies every facet of litigation. The North Carolina Court of…
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Trial Judge Denies Your For-Cause Challenge to a Potential Juror — Good Luck Challenging That
By Fox Rothschild LLP on
As the Honorable Mark A. Davis recently reminded us in his CLE program entitled Do’s and Don’ts at the Court of Appeals: A View from the Bench: “Appellate judges…
Continue Reading Trial Judge Denies Your For-Cause Challenge to a Potential Juror — Good Luck Challenging That