Ever had to explain to a client why a sweet win in the lower courts doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s time to dig in and eat?
Continue Reading Appellate Courts and Messy Kitchens
Fox Rothschild's blog about practicing law in North Carolina state and federal appellate courts
Ever had to explain to a client why a sweet win in the lower courts doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s time to dig in and eat?
Continue Reading Appellate Courts and Messy KitchensI. You Can’t Have One Without the Other: Notice of Appeal Must Designate Both Final Judgment and Intermediate Order
Approximately three years ago, I blogged on Majerske v. Majerske,…
Continue Reading Notices of Appeal: Wouldn’t It Be Nice?
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…
Continue Reading Institutional Disharmony in the Fourth Circuit? Or Merely Patriotic Dissent?
The federal corollary to the oft-blogged about “substantial right doctrine” in the North Carolina appellate courts is the “collateral order doctrine.” As is the case under North Carolina law, the …
Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Explains the Scope of “Collateral Order Doctrine”
In an opinion highlighting an interesting federal appellate jurisdictional issue, the Fourth Circuit on Monday vacated a “gag order” that had been entered by the district court. That gag…
Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Holds that Trial Court Cannot Prevent Appellate Review of Decision by Vacating that Decision After Appellate Proceedings Have Commenced
Note: much of the information below comes from The American Lawyer’s October 23 “Daily Dicta,” by Jenna Greene.
He started as a pro se plaintiff alleging First Amendment (and other) …
Continue Reading Unpublished Fourth Circuit Per Curiam Opinion Involving Pro Se Litigant Rights Moving Towards the Supreme Court on the Backs of Legal Giants
In light of Matt’s post from yesterday, does anyone perceive an uptick in dismissals of appeals for notice of appeal problems? Are North Carolina lawyers unique in their propensity…
Continue Reading When Is a Deadline or Other Requirement for Filing a Notice of Appeal Jurisdictional? (Federal Edition)
Twice this week the Fourth Circuit took the relatively unusual step of issuing published opinions on orders denying rehearing of a case. Ordinarily such orders are not published for the…
Continue Reading The Curious Case(s) of the Published Denial of Rehearing
Since December 2016, we have been monitoring the status of the North Carolina Court of Appeals’ new en banc authority. Several motions for en banc review have been filed,…
Continue Reading Fourth Circuit May Conduct Initial En Banc Review of Revised Federal Travel Ban
Most attorneys have had a least one unfavorable final judgment entered before trial. The attorney may feel that the trial court completely misunderstood her argument. Perhaps the trial court entered…
Continue Reading Resisting the Urge To Give The Trial Court One Last Chance: Dangers of Using N.C. R. Civ. P. 59 To Revisit Final Judgments Entered Without A Trial