Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one.
– Doc Brown, “Back To The Future”
On
Continue Reading Judge Riggs Appointed on Monday; Issues COA Opinions on Tuesday; On Supreme Court Bench Wednesday
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
In a short order issued last week, the North Carolina Supreme Court narrowly voted to vacate a Court of Appeals’ opinion in connection with dismissing an appeal on mootness grounds.
Continue Reading When an appeal becomes moot, should the lower court opinion be vacated?
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 It
Writer 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 Appeal
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)
Court of Appeals Petition Rulings Unmasked
Continue Reading Unmasked: Court of Appeals to Begin Disclosing Identities and Votes of Members of Petition Panel … 90 Days Later
On May 3, 2022, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a large batch of opinions. By my count, twenty-two were published and thirty were unpublished. While history may prove
Continue Reading ANOTHER SMORGASBORD OF OPINIONS FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS
This 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