Petition for Writ of Certiorari

When a local board of adjustment makes an adverse land-use decision on a landowner’s application for a conditional use permit or a variance, a special statute kicks in to dictate…
Continue Reading Is An Appeal “To Superior Court in the Nature of Certiorari” an Appeal, an Action, or Both?

Holidays, snowstorms, vacations, workloads—mixed in with the winter blahs—have resulted in us getting a little behind on our blogging duties. The appellate courts, however, have not suffered from the same…
Continue Reading Ketchup, Catsup, Catch-Up: A Hodgepodge Of Important Appellate Decisions We Were Behind In Sharing

Sometimes the juiciest info is found in the comments.  In October, I blogged about State v. Biddix—a Court of Appeals’ opinion that appeared to significantly limit the Court of…
Continue Reading The Writ of Certiorari: A Somewhat Less Powerful Tool (Part II)?

Yesterday’s batch of opinions contained an unusual nugget: an entire opinion devoted to arguably the most powerful of all appellate tools, the writ of certiorari. In State v. Biddix,  …
Continue Reading The Writ of Certiorari—A Somewhat Less Powerful Tool?

For Business Court cases designated on or after October 1, 2014, the Business Court Modernization Act sends all appeals to the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Or does it?
Continue Reading Did the Business Court Modernization Act Leave Unintended Appellate Jurisdiction In the North Carolina Court of Appeals?

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

A few weeks ago, one of my colleagues blogged on the topic of unpublished opinions in the North Carolina Court of Appeals.  The Maryland Appellate Blog released an interesting post …
Continue Reading “Soft Precedent”: Unpublished Opinions in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals