Desperately searching for COVID-safe CLE hours?  The North Carolina Court of Appeals is offering appellate continuing legal education courses until the end of February 2021.   According to the Court’s press release, the on-demand video courses are available for free to licensed North Carolina attorneys seeking CLE credit, North Carolina paralegals seeking CPE credit, and the general public.  The courses are divided into six one-hour videos that cover various topics including emerging appellate issues, appellate practice and procedure, ethics, and technology. … Continue Reading

It is hard to believe that it has been three months since Justice Ginsburg passed away.  The NCBA Appellate Practice Section invites you to attend a virtual presentation celebrating  her life, achievements, and legacy.  Join Dean Emerita Suzanne Reynolds as she leads a discussion among Ryan Park, Neil Siegel, and Ruthanne Deutsch about their experience clerking for Justice Ginsburg, her tremendous legacy to the legal profession, and her impact on them personally.… Continue Reading

Over the weekend, the last undecided race for North Carolina’s appellate courts was resolved when Chief Justice Cheri Beasley conceded the race to Senior Associate—and Chief Justice-Elect—Paul Newby.   The race was extraordinarily close, with Chief Justice-Elect Newby ultimately prevailing by a margin of 50.0037% to 49.9963%.

After two rounds of recounts, and with various protests still pending, Chief Justice Beasley and Chief Justice-Elect Newby announced the amicable resolution on social media. … Continue Reading

Last week, the Court of Appeals reinforced the importance of the statutory presumption that a doctor has obtained valid informed consent.  The Hauser v. Brookview Women’s Center court affirmed the trial court’s instruction on the presumption over the plaintiff’s objections.  In a win for providers everywhere, the Court rejected the plaintiff’s arguments that the presumption was only applicable where there were allegations of fraud, deception, or misrepresentation and that it does not apply where there are allegations that the provider did not explain the alternatives to surgery. … Continue Reading

Precisely 364 days ago, Kip previewed  the coming of universal citations.   Twenty-eight days remain until universal citations assume a starring role in judicial opinions and briefs.   And to help practitioners model their own trendsetting citations, the Supreme Court of North Carolina has released a Universal Citation factsheet.

Key features include (1) no longer needing the regional reporter reference when citing to North Carolina opinions filed on or after January 1, 2021, (2) replacing parallel pinpoint citations with the opinion’s paragraph number, and (3) omitting the citation’s year parenthetical (the opinion’s year is now embedded in the universal citation). … Continue Reading

There is a school of thought in legal writing that you should never put anything too important in footnotes, as some readers might skip over them.  See, e.g., https://www.legalwritingpro.com/articles/the-lowdown-on-footnotes/.  Well, if you are one of those readers, then you would have missed a good footnote from an unpublished Fourth Circuit opinion issued on Monday.    The opinion starts with the sentence “This appeal presents conflict of laws and conflict of interests questions in an insurance coverage dispute.” … Continue Reading

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 on how various transcript-related issues should work in practice.  Today, the Supreme Court of North Carolina granted that wish by amending the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.

For cases appealed on or after January 1, 2021, Appellate Rule 7 has been completely rewritten.   … Continue Reading

The Appellate Practice Section of the North Carolina Bar Association is planning its annual CLE for June 2021.  The Section’s CLE committee is currently assembling the program for the CLE.  In the interest of making the program as relevant and actionable as possible for members of the Section and the bar, the committee invites your input on potential topics and speakers. … Continue Reading

Did you miss this week’s inaugural session of The Bluebook Club?  Never fear–you have a second chance.  The Appellate Practice Section’s new program offers networking and socializing opportunities for anyone interested in appellate practice.   The next session will be Thursday, November 19th at 1:00 p.m.

You can sign up here.   Note that you will have to be logged in to your NCBA account to register.… Continue Reading

In Pounds, et al. v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, the North Carolina Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion that may have a significant impact on collections law and arbitrability.

Defendant is an entity that purchases consumer debt.  Plaintiffs are individual credit card holders who had racked unpaid bills on their cards.  Defendant purchased the debts of those individual plaintiffs, then brought suit and obtained default judgments against each.… Continue Reading