In its opinions issued on February 21, 2023, the NC Court of Appeals focused on how appellants must preserve their right to appeal issues if they want access to the appellate courts.
Continue Reading There’s No Appeal Without the Right to Appeal

Fox Rothschild's blog about practicing law in North Carolina state and federal appellate courts
In its opinions issued on February 21, 2023, the NC Court of Appeals focused on how appellants must preserve their right to appeal issues if they want access to the appellate courts. …
Continue Reading There’s No Appeal Without the Right to Appeal
The Court of Appeals’ latest batch of opinions includes several reminders about the importance of proving that appellate jurisdiction is proper in an appellant’s opening brief. Not in a conclusory…
Continue Reading Relying on a Motion to Dismiss Response to Address Appellate Jurisdiction Arguments? Maybe Don’t Count on ItBeth and Matt’s treatise, North Carolina Appellate Practice and Procedure, is finally available! Published by LexisNexis in both print and online versions, the treatise represents the culmination of…
Continue Reading North Carolina’s Very Own Appellate Practice Treatise is Now Available!
In October 2018, I gave a CLE presentations with (now recently sworn in) Judge Allegra Collins: “Life Preservers on the Titanic: Issues Not Properly Preserved for Appellate Review.” Part…
Continue Reading Supreme Court Reaffirms That Non-Constitutional Sentencing Arguments Are Automatically Preserved for Appellate Review
Last Friday was a blockbuster appellate day for the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Not only did it effectively declare an appellate jurisdiction statute unconstitutional (see Matt’s blog post…
Continue Reading Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeals Application of Appellate Rule 2
Generally speaking, an appeal stops all proceedings at the trial court level until the appeal concludes. However, as we have previously blogged (here, here, here, and…
Continue Reading The Court of Appeals Again Recognizes the Trial Court’s Jurisdiction to Decide the Appealability of Interlocutory Orders When Deciding Whether the § 1-294 Stay Applies
Savvy practitioners know that some post-trial motions toll the deadline for filing a notice of appeal, but motions brought under Rule 60 of the Rules of Civil Procedure do not…
Continue Reading Are Certain Rule 60 Orders Unappealable?
Holidays, snowstorms, vacations, workloads—mixed in with the winter blahs—have resulted in us getting a little behind on our blogging duties. The appellate courts, however, have not suffered from the same…
Continue Reading Ketchup, Catsup, Catch-Up: A Hodgepodge Of Important Appellate Decisions We Were Behind In Sharing
Sometimes the juiciest info is found in the comments. In October, I blogged about State v. Biddix—a Court of Appeals’ opinion that appeared to significantly limit the Court of…
Continue Reading The Writ of Certiorari: A Somewhat Less Powerful Tool (Part II)?
Back in June, we blogged about the passage of a new law that created “retention elections” for sitting justices on the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Justice Bob Edmunds is…
Continue Reading Wake County Lawsuit Challenges Retention Election Statute