The Supreme Court of North Carolina has another job opening, this time for a Staff Attorney. The person selected will not only assist with the Court’s written opinions but will also be involved with rules, administrative orders, and training. More information, including a link to the online application, can be found here.
But hurry–the application period closes next Wednesday (July 17th).… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court of North Carolina is exploring a proposal to adopt a universal citation format for North Carolina appellate court opinions. The format would implement sequential numbers for all opinions and a paragraph-based numbering system for pinpoint citations. The Court’s Technology Committee has prepared a report that describes the proposal in detail. The idea has been percolating for years across the country, and other states have previously adopted similar formats.… Continue Reading
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of North Carolina published its internal “Guidebook” for citation, style, and usage.
You may recall that a few years back, a lawyer obtained a copy of and began selling the U.S. Supreme Court’s “secret” Style Guide. Fortunately, you do not need to buy a copy of our State Supreme Court’s Guidebook on Amazon—or wade through 266 pages of text.… Continue Reading
Last Friday, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued its first-ever opinion discussing the learned-profession exemption under section 75-1.1. This is big news, especially for healthcare lawyers and providers.
Most lawyers in North Carolina are familiar with section 75-1.1 of the General Statutes, which offers a broad prohibition on unfair and deceptive practices in or affecting commerce. Most lawyers also know that the law has an exemption for members of a learned profession.… Continue Reading
Finally found time to blog on one of my favorite topics: exceptions and qualifications to the error preservation requirements of Appellate Rule 10! (Um, I heard those groans!). A few weeks ago the North Carolina Supreme Court issued two new opinions shedding additional light on this semi-fascinating topic.
Under the Statutory Mandate Exception to Appellate Rule 10, Trial Judges Generally are Not Required to Supervise the Conduct of “Outside” State Actors
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 parents had purchased enough CDs to elevate the quaint twangs of Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line to the top of the country music charts.… Continue Reading
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 participation would be helpful. In North Carolina, one statutory pathway to discretionary review is showing that “the subject matter of the appeal has significant public interest.”… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court released a batch of orders today, denying review in many cases (as usual) but also granting review in six cases. These six grants—the first from the new Beasley Court—cover issues ranging from federal immigration enforcement by local law enforcement agencies to defamation and Batson challenges.
First up are the habeas petitions of two immigrants detained by the sheriff of Mecklenburg County.… Continue Reading
Honestly, I’m not a headhunter in disguise. A few days after my March 15 “Now Hiring” post, the Supreme Court posted another position: Special Counsel for Public Affairs & Innovation. Looks like the Supreme Court is looking for someone to assist the Court and the AOC in managing its relationships with the legislative branches of the government. (For the twitter-oriented, AOC is the acronym that was synonymous with North Carolina’s Administrative Office of the Courts long before Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit the Twitter scene.).… Continue Reading
In April 2017, the General Assembly surprised appellate stakeholders by adopting legislation shifting a subclass of Rule 3.1 juvenile appeals—Termination of Parental Rights (“TPR”) appeals—to the Supreme Court’s mandatory direct appellate review jurisdiction. The silver lining was that the General Assembly did not require an immediate shift in these cases from the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court. Instead, TPR cases did not start trickling into the Supreme Court until January 2019.… Continue Reading