Until recently, a single judge sitting on a panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals could tee up an issue for the Supreme Court of North Carolina simply by
Continue Reading Are North Carolina Court of Appeals Judges Dissenting Less?
How Important Is Oral Argument In The Fourth Circuit?
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many changes in the legal profession over the last 10 months. Those receiving the most focus have been, for obvious reasons, things like remote proceedings
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Institutional Disharmony in the Fourth Circuit? Or Merely Patriotic Dissent?
Is there institutional disharmony in the Fourth Circuit? That’s the question that one judge suggested, in a concurring opinion, that lawyers and judges might be asking after an en banc
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By the Numbers: 2016 Outcomes in Supreme Court Decisions
North Carolina’s appellate statistician, Kenzie Rakes, has more numbers for us. Kenzie’s pie charts break down the outcomes from last year’s appeals to the Supreme Court. Which disposition was used
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Yes, Virginia, Substantial Constitutional Questions Do Exist!
A party has an appeal of right to our Supreme Court from certain decisions of the Court of Appeals under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-30. The overwhelming majority of those
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Appellate Brief Brevity and Success On Appeal?
“Brevity is appreciated.” “A short brief can be very effective.” How many times have you heard appellate judges make statements like this about appellate briefs? While I can most certainly
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By The Numbers: Likelihood of Reversal in the Fourth Circuit and the North Carolina Court of Appeals
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