A dissenting opinion in the Court of Appeals has long been a litigant’s Golden Ticket, at least until a recent statutory change. The mere existence of the dissent bestowed an automatic right of appeal to the Supreme Court of...more
Can an appellee say that the lower court got it wrong? If so, when? In many appeals, the alignment of interests is clear: the appellant is the party who disagrees with the ruling at issue, and the appellee is the party who...more
Petitions for the writ of certiorari are a fairly routine part of North Carolina appellate practice and procedure, but the Appellate Rules do not provide much guidance on what those petitions should contain. Under Rule...more
For both civil and criminal appeals, the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure require an appealing party who is filing a written notice of appeal to identify “the judgment or order from which appeal is taken.”...more
Normally, an interlocutory order awarding attorney fees is not immediately appealable because it does not affect a substantial right that will be lost absent immediate review. But is there a potential exception to that rule...more
A writ of certiorari is a discretionary, extraordinary writ—and is therefore never granted as a matter of right. See, e.g., King v. Taylor, 188 N.C. 450, 451, 124 S.E. 751, 751 (1924) (explaining that the writ “is allowed...more
It doesn’t take long for those who read judicial opinions to come across an unsigned, “per curiam” decision. Many decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, federal circuit courts, and our state Supreme Court are short-ish...more
Out of a total of 24 opinions, the Supreme Court’s most recent set of opinions included nine criminal cases, three terminations of parental rights, and six direct appeals from Business Court decisions.
Of those six...more
Our state appellate courts have long held that a timely notice of appeal is a jurisdictional requirement. See, e.g., State v. Patterson. (For an interesting discussion on this topic, see section 28.02[3] in Beth and Matt’s...more
No, this post is not a tribute to David Ives. In many appellate cases, it really is all in the timing.
Some appellate rules regarding timing are easy to state. The deadlines to file a notice of appeal, an opening brief,...more
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 followed? What options do the parties have?
Last week,...more
Unlike in federal court, judges in North Carolina’s state courts often invite counsel for the prevailing party to draft a proposed order on the court’s ruling. Sometimes the judge will let the parties know of the judge’s...more