Before filing a complaint, make sure you have the correct name of your plaintiff. Otherwise, when you amend the complaint to add the correct plaintiff, you may lose the benefit of the relation back doctrine.
Continue Reading Court of Appeals Emphasizes Importance of Identifying the Proper Plaintiff
School Fees and the Lockdown (Plus an Update on Pendent Appellate Jurisdiction and Amended Rule 54(b) Certifications)
The legal aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic will be surfacing for years to come. But for those waiting for pendent-appellate jurisdiction and Rule 54(b) sightings, a recent Court of Appeals…
Continue Reading School Fees and the Lockdown (Plus an Update on Pendent Appellate Jurisdiction and Amended Rule 54(b) Certifications)Some Calendar Notices from North Carolina’s Appellate Courts Are Not Getting Through
Trigger warning: this post may cause appellate lawyers to have nightmares.
There has been a spate of technical glitches lately that caused critical notices from the North Carolina Court of…
Continue Reading Some Calendar Notices from North Carolina’s Appellate Courts Are Not Getting ThroughNC Supreme Court Fills Its 2023-24 Calendar
If you have a case pending before the North Carolina Supreme Court and haven’t yet received an oral argument notice, your case likely won’t be argued until the fall.
The…
Continue Reading NC Supreme Court Fills Its 2023-24 Calendar2024 NC Appellate CLE and Social Coming this March!
It’s back! The NCBA Appellate Practice Section Counsel’s Annual CLE and Social is returning this March.
The social will be at Whiskey Kitchen (201 W. Martin St, Raleigh) on Thursday…
Continue Reading 2024 NC Appellate CLE and Social Coming this March!No, Your Case Isn’t Special–There’s a New Fourth Circuit Form.
If you have had a case tentatively calendared for oral argument in the Fourth Circuit recently, then you likely received a notice to submit a specific form indicating whether you…
Continue Reading No, Your Case Isn’t Special–There’s a New Fourth Circuit Form.Now Hiring: EDNC Appellate AUSA
I’m often asked by younger lawyers and law students how a person goes about becoming an appellate lawyer. It’s tricky, because most firms and organizations hoard their plum appellate opportunities…
Continue Reading Now Hiring: EDNC Appellate AUSAPROMISES, PROMISES
[CORRECTION, JANUARY 26, 2024: Attorney Benjamin Kull, who practices in Durham, pointed out to me that the penultimate paragraph of the original post, discussing searches based on the odor of…
Continue Reading PROMISES, PROMISESCourt of Appeals Has New Chief Judge
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has a new chief judge. Effective January 1, 2024, Chief Justice Newby has appointed Senior Associate Judge Chris Dillon as the new chief of…
Continue Reading Court of Appeals Has New Chief JudgeCertiorari Petitions in the Court of Appeals: From Ordinary to Extra-Ordinary
Petitions for the writ of certiorari are a fairly routine part of North Carolina appellate practice and procedure, but the Appellate Rules do not provide much guidance on what those…
Continue Reading Certiorari Petitions in the Court of Appeals: From Ordinary to Extra-OrdinarySix New Specialists
The North Carolina State Bar has announced that six attorneys have passed the grueling examination and have been certified as Specialists in Appellate Practice. They are:
L Lamar Armstrong, III…
Continue Reading Six New SpecialistsA Majority Court and a Dissenting Justice: A Glimpse into the Future?
The four civil cases decided by the Supreme Court on 15 December 2023 hang together by a focus on minimalism and, in three of them, dissenting opinions by Justice Earls. Based on the current composition of the Supreme Court, this minimalist approach, with a dissent, may be a harbinger of what to expect from the Supreme Court in the future.
Continue Reading A Majority Court and a Dissenting Justice: A Glimpse into the Future?