North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog

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NC Court of Appeals (No. COA20-545)

 

Grace DiPrima (“Plaintiff”) and Clifton Benjamin Vann, V (“Defendant”) were the best of friends.  Their friendship began in the third grade, and the two stayed friends throughout grade school and beyond.  Plaintiff and Defendant attended The Fletcher School (“Fletcher”), an educational institution for children with learning differences.  Plaintiff and Defendant would contact each other through various means, including text messages, Instagram, phone conversations, etc.  However, by 2018, Plaintiff disclosed to her parents that the relationship had become more volatile.  Plaintiff stated that some of Defendant’s recent actions made her feel uncomfortable.  Between July 2018 and November 2018, Plaintiff and Defendant exchanged messages concerning suicide.  Continue reading →

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Lunsford v. Teasley, COA20-436 (April 2021)

All games have rules. If you want to imagine your civil court case as a game, then the Rules of Civil Procedure is the handbook that tells you how to get started playing the game. And if you happen to break the rules, there are consequences. It may seem to be an odd analogy, but the rules in a game are to make things fair and to make them efficient and orderly. Similarly, the Rules of Civil Procedure promotes fairness, efficiency, and order. Below is a case that talks about one of those rules. Continue reading →

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Appeals are very technical. In the last blog, we covered the beginning sections of an appellate brief. There is opportunity to fashion a primer for argument with the presentation of facts and issues. However, be forewarned: omissions of bad facts and argumentative spin on the facts is improper and will hurt the credibility of the attorney. Continue reading →

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Appeals are very technical. Last time, we covered the technicalities in a Record on Appeal. Now we address the appellate brief. The Brief is where the case is won or lost. It contains the arguments of counsel on why the appellate court should overturn the court below. As one can imagine, an argument is made in writing is very different from arguments made orally. Over time, the appellate courts have adopted uniform rules on how to present an argument in a brief, which makes things more efficient and consistent. Continue reading →

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Appeals are very technical. A filing with the Court of Appeals can happen after a final judgment, or as an interlocutory appeal—meaning before the final judgment. But in order for the Court of Appeals to properly hear your case, you have to provide them with all the facts. The Court of Appeals is not a fact-finding court; you are bound by the facts that were presented in the trial level, and further bound by the facts that you present to the Court. Those facts are included in the “Record on Appeal.” Continue reading →

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Despite the name, a final judgment from a trial court is not always the end of a case. Appeal of the trial court judgment is often the next step in the timeline of a case. On appeal, typically, the Courts of Appeal are only restricted to the issues and factual record that were present in the trial court. That means no new evidence can be presented, and outside of a few exceptions, no new legal issues can be presented. Sometimes the appeal is based in a misinterpretation or a misapplication of law. Thus, many appeals focus on legal arguments and rely on old legal cases to argue how the law was misapplied. But at other times, the appellate court has an opportunity to set a new precedent or to distinguish the application of law to a set of facts. In these instances, there lies potential for far-ranging consequences of the Court’s decision. In such cases, interested organizations and attorneys will often want to weigh in on the matter, and attempt to persuade the Court. Remember that on appeal it is still plaintiff versus defendant, so these outside parties’ opinions may not always have any effect. Continue reading →

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As part of Women’s History Month, I would like to revisit the Supreme Court’s first woman Justice: Sandra Day O’Connor. She is so much more than the historical trivia note to which she is often reduced. Educated at Stanford and appointed to the Court by then President Reagan, she served from 1981 to her retirement in 2006. She was as much an active voice behind the scenes as she was on the bench; apparently, she insisted that the Justices all eat lunch together, and would not take no for an answer. Continue reading →

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A coworker recently asked me, “Why does Guilford County have two courthouses, unlike other counties in North Carolina?” I was born in Greensboro, have lived most of my life in Guilford County, and honestly had no idea. After a brief amount of internet searching, I ran across a 1999 article written in the News and Record by Paul Garber, “High Point Courthouse Changed Legal Landscape.” Continue reading →

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A few years ago, when our state’s leading public university was hit with a public records request regarding a campus sexual assault, the school’s response led to a Constitutional standoff. The United States is a republic where the states have a great deal of autonomy, but what happens when a state institution seems to violate federal law? Continue reading →

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Neitzer v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2018156, 2018 WL 4519997 (2018)

(a) Facts: Husband owned and operated two businesses. The wife, who was trained as a nurse, was totally disabled after a series of spine and hip surgeries. Her income came primarily from disability benefits.

The couple separated in 2010. Their 2012 joint tax return was prepared by the husband’s business accountant. The wife was notified of the return only two hours before she was expected to sign it. The accountant had been told to disclose nothing to the wife about the husband’s personal or business finances. The wife signed the return without reading it. Continue reading →