supreme court

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?

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?

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