In April 2017, the General Assembly moved primary (i.e., initial) appellate jurisdiction in termination of parental rights appeals from the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court. That change (which went into effect in...more
In Dicesare v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, 2021 NCBC Order 10 (Apr. 6, 2021), the North Carolina Business Court determined that a trial court loses jurisdiction to rule on a pending Civil Rule 60(b)(6) motion...more
Under Appellate Rule 10, the general rule is that appellate courts only decide issues properly raised, argued, and decided in the trial tribunal. But exceptions to this general rule exist for issues considered so fundamental...more
In the first three weeks of 2021, I have heard nothing but positive feedback about the Supreme Court’s transcript-related rules updates.
In more good news, the Supreme Court’s Office of Administrative Counsel has...more
The recent opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in M.E. v. T.J., No. COA18-1045 has more twists than a Chubby Checker look-alike contest. The opinion is long and the facts and procedure are somewhat convoluted, but...more
At the stroke of midnight, North Carolina’s judiciary entered a new era, with many appellate justices and judges taking the oath office from their homes. This age-old changing of the guard included Chief Justice Paul Newby...more
Desperately searching for COVID-safe CLE hours? The North Carolina Court of Appeals is offering appellate continuing legal education courses until the end of February 2021. According to the Court’s press release, the...more
Precisely 364 days ago, Kip previewed the coming of universal citations. Twenty-eight days remain until universal citations assume a starring role in judicial opinions and briefs. And to help practitioners model their own...more
Those who have known me for any length of time know that for more than a decade I have really, really wanted the Supreme Court to give appellate practitioners clarification on how various transcript-related issues should work...more
Requesting that trial judges modify their judgments or orders is not for the faint of heart. Informing a trial judge that he or she has likely goofed is not fun, but it is often necessary. Indeed, the Appellate Rules usually...more
COVID-19 interrupted the plans of many North Carolina law students. In-person classes (Cancelled). Students (Sent home). Summer internships (Postponed, shortened, or cancelled).
In the midst of these upheavals, the...more
A recording of North Carolina’s first virtual oral argument is now available for viewing. Because the video stream began before the actual arguments commenced, insight is available into how the Court of Appeals and the...more
The Court of Appeals has new COVID-19 procedures for its voluntary appellate mediation program. The full document is here, but highlights include:
1.For mediation deadlines that fall between March 27 and April 30, parties...more
As previously reported here, the Supreme Court of North Carolina at the end of March issued an order extending all appellate court deadlines falling between March 27 and April 30, 2020 for 60 days....more
On Tuesday, Troy posted on the uncertainty surrounding how North Carolina appeals are being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a catastrophic conditions order extending deadlines and...more
Since 2015, this blog has frequently discussed whether the text of Appellate Rule 21 places restrictions on the Court of Appeals’ authority to grant relief by writ of certiorari. The Supreme Court has also written frequently...more
For the past 25 years, an oral argument before the United States Supreme Court was considered an oddity when an advocate managed to squeeze two or three sentences in before being interrupted by the bench. Last Thursday, the...more
I. You Can’t Have One Without the Other: Notice of Appeal Must Designate Both Final Judgment and Intermediate Order-
Approximately three years ago, I blogged on Majerske v. Majerske, an unpublished Court of Appeals...more
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of North Carolina issued its latest amendments to the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure. The amendments impact word-count limitation applicable to appellate briefs and parental leave....more
As noted yesterday, the Supreme Court has been busy. Need further proof? How about the fact that the Supreme Court considered 279 “other matters” on Friday— a category that includes rulings on various substantive motions,...more
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 stated in the Court of Appeals”...more
Wouldn’t it be great if an automatic notification was sent out whenever court rules were updated? Wait . . . I hear you! “What self-respecting lawyer doesn’t subscribe to the NCAPB.com blog, which provides updates and...more
Does the statutory right to appellate review of a superior court’s final judgment under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-27(b)(1) apply to a criminal appeal by the State? That is the central question a divided Supreme Court addressed a...more
Finally found time to blog on one of my favorite topics: exceptions and qualifications to the error preservation requirements of Appellate Rule 10! (Um, I heard those groans!). A few weeks ago the North Carolina Supreme...more
A few weeks ago the North Carolina Court of Appeals plowed new ground: issuing the first opinion to cite Appellate Rule 38(b) since the Appellate Rules were adopted in 1975. This long-neglected rule was the catalyst for a...more