Record on Appeal

Thirty years ago, Justice Scalia famously described the Supreme Court’s Lemon test as “some ghoul in a late-night horror movie that repeatedly sits up in its grave and shuffles abroad

Continue Reading Just in Time for Halloween: Has the Specter of Viar Returned?

Writer and futurist Alvin Toffler cautioned, “You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.”  Today’s

Continue Reading Avoiding Big Problems with Small Details: Protecting Sensitive Information and Including the “Littlest Big” Detail With Notices of Appeal

Those who have known me for any length of time know that for more than a decade I have really, really wanted the Supreme Court to give appellate practitioners clarification
Continue Reading Like Sands Through the Hourglass: Supreme Court Revises Transcript-Related Rules

Last Amish Horse and Carriageweek, the Court of Appeals returned to a general question that this blog has addressed before: When is a Notice of Appeal Filing Deadline or Requirement Jurisdictional?  In this
Continue Reading Can the Cart (Appeal) Go Before the Horse (Entry of Order Being Appealed)?

Unlike in federal court, judges in North Carolina’s state courts often invite counsel for the prevailing party to draft a proposed order on the court’s ruling. Sometimes the judge will
Continue Reading Appellate Review of Trial Court Reasoning

You already know that the Supreme Court adopted numerous amendments to the Rules of Appellate Procedure at the end of 2018. However, some of the most significant changes are occurring
Continue Reading Appellate Rules Amendments Bring Modifications to E-filing System

It is beginning to feel like a bi-annual holiday tradition between me and our blog readers: another rule-update summary.  Yesterday afternoon, the Supreme Court issued its latest order amending the
Continue Reading Supreme Court Issues Order Amending the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure: 2018 Holiday Edition