supreme court

The trial judge who presides over a hearing or trial is supposed to, and usually does, sign the resulting written order. But what happens if that normal process is not
Continue Reading Can You Appeal from a Nullity?

Suppose an appellate judge casts the deciding vote in a case, creating a majority in support of the lead opinion.  Before the opinion is released, however, the judge retires or
Continue Reading Can an Appellate Judge’s Vote Count After Death or Retirement?

If you have ever litigated a medical-malpractice case, you likely know all about Rule 9(j). Rule 9—the repository of the exceptions to our “notice-pleading regime”—requires a med-mal plaintiff (who isn’t
Continue Reading Supreme Court Clarifies Special Pleading Requirement in Medical-Malpractice Actions

Our State Supreme Court issues a lot of unanimous opinions. But this month’s batch of opinions contained two interesting examples of an area in which the justices may disagree: statutory
Continue Reading Disagreement in the Supreme Court of North Carolina: How to Interpret a Statute