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 ItWriter and futurist Alvin Toffler cautioned, “You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” Today’s…
Continue Reading Avoiding Big Problems with Small Details: Protecting Sensitive Information and Including the “Littlest Big” Detail With Notices of AppealThis week, the Court of Appeals added some nuance to an issue that has plagued appellants for many years: the calculation of the appeal period when a judgment is not…
Continue Reading The Countdown That Ends Before It Even Starts: The Unwritten “Actual Notice” Pathway to Losing Your Right to Appeal
Beth 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!
On Friday, the Supreme Court displayed how busy it has been this summer by releasing 17 authored opinions. Justice Per Curiam (who is fond of affirming/reversing “for the reasons…
Continue Reading Taking Care of Business (Part I): Rule 3.1 No-Merit Briefs Warrant (At Least Some Form of) Appellate Review
Did you enjoy opening and comparing three different Supreme Court orders to determine the most current version of a particular Appellate Rule? For those twisted few who did, your joy…
Continue Reading Up-To-Date Set of Appellate Rules Released
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
I’m old enough to remember the good ol’ days, specifically, 2016, when we had 17 days to file a reply brief in a federal appeal. Sometimes, you would even get…
Continue Reading Proposed Change to Federal Appellate Rules Would Provide Reply-Brief Relief
It was just over one year ago that I wrote about the authority of one appellate panel to overrule another panel when the issue is one of jurisdiction. Last week,…
Continue Reading Update: Appellate Court Jurisdiction