The Supreme Court’s June 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overturned Chevron deference and decades of case law guiding debt regulation. Chevron deference, a 40-year-old legal doctrine established by the...more
In the complex landscape of debt collection, the motto “doing collections right” encapsulates a commitment to ethical practices, legal compliance, and balanced advocacy. For Smith Debnam, this principle serves as a...more
An assumed business name is not a business’ legal name but the name it presents to the public or its “D/B/A.” North Carolina maintains a statewide database of assumed business names publicly accessible on the Secretary of...more
Governments and municipalities have recognized that eviction and resulting homelessness is a public health concern, especially in the midst of a global pandemic when crowded homeless shelters pose a critical threat to...more
Established case law tells us that pro se litigants are held to the same standard as represented parties, but that is not always the case in a judge’s eyes and should not always be the case from a practical standpoint. Pro se...more
Apart from a handful of limited exceptions, North Carolina’s civil courts were closed for almost three months in the Spring of 2020 in response to the community spread of COVID-19 across the state. In June, North Carolina’s...more