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We present two items today for the consideration of our loyal readers:

1.  Shameless Plug for Your Votes

The good people at Lexis, which hosts our firm’s legal blogs and many others, recently notified us that we have been nominated for consideration as one of Lexis’s Top 25 Business Law Blogs.  If you are a registered member of the LexisNexis Business Law Communities, please feel free to put in a kind word at this link.  If you are not a registered member but are so compelled that you want…

Continue Reading Like Blanche DuBois, This Blog Depends on the Kindness of Strangers

An entity can be interested (legally) in the outcome of a lawsuit, or it may simply be interested (in the go-sports-team-from-my-hometown-or-university! sense) in the outcome.  Under a recent Business Court ruling, only the former supports intervention under Rule 24.

Time Warner Entertainment Advance / Newhouse Partnership v. Town of Landis involved access to utility poles, a type of dispute committed to the Business Court under 2009 legislation. The North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives ("NCAEC"), an organization of 26 electric membership corporations across North Carolina, sought leave to intervene under Rule 24…

Continue Reading Trade Association May Appear as Amicus, but Can’t Intervene

If you have visited the restroom in an office building in the last five years, chances are you’ve had the opportunity to use Georgia Pacific’s hands-free paper towel dispenser known as "enMotion."  In a published opinion released yesterday, the Fourth Circuit generally ruled in GP’s favor on trademark infringement, tortious interference, and unfair and deceptive trade practices claims.

The enMotion dispenser (pictured here) operates through an electronic motion sensor that dispenses towels without any physical contact from the user’s hands.  The dispenser was designed for use with a proprietary paper…

Continue Reading 4th Circuit High-Fives Georgia Pacific in enMotion Towel Dispenser Case

Be careful what you request in your complaint, particularly if it’s a request for judicial dissolution.  According to a Court of Appeals opinion this week, you’ll be stuck with that request if your defendant asks for the same thing.

In Bradley v. Bradley, a husband-wife team were the shareholders and officers of a legal recruiting firm, Laura Segal & Associates ("LSA").  When the couple separated, the business basically did too — the wife asserted that the husband misappropriated corporate funds and denied her access to the company’s books, records, and accounting…

Continue Reading Husband Not Allowed to Dismiss Request for Judicial Dissolution of Family Firm

For anyone who has agonized over a decision between moving to dismiss or moving to compel arbitration, your strategic torment may be over.  A short but important order from the Business Court yesterday ruled that the two options are not mutually exclusive.

In Triad Group, Inc. v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., a bond swap lawsuit filed in April 2009, Wachovia moved to dismiss the claims of the various nursing center plaintiffs.  This April, Judge Tennille dismissed the punitive damages and Chapter 75 claims, but denied the motion as to all remaining…

Continue Reading Arbitration? Motion to Dismiss? Let’s Do Both!

The City of Richmond was kind to the City of Greensboro last week.  After nearly a decade of litigation and arbitration, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s rejection of a challenge to a nearly $15 million arbitration award against the general contractor of a wastewater treatment facility.

The published opinion in MCI Constructors, LLC v. City of Greensboro is the latest round in a dispute arising from a 1996 contract.  That contract delegated to the city manager the role of referee and arbitrator for disputes.  The City terminated MCI for cause, and MCI sought…

Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Affirms $14.9MM Arbitration Award to City of Greensboro

A few points to keep in mind when the world of pro se plaintiffs meets the world of closely held entities in the Business Court, courtesy of Monday’s decision in Bodie Island Beach Club Ass’n, Inc. v. Wray:

  • A letter written by a physician who was served both individually and as registered agent for an LLC served as an answer for the physician only, not for the LLC.  The letter was written on the physician’s personal letterhead and did not purport to answer on behalf of the LLC.
  • Even if the

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Continue Reading Pro Se LLCs and Entry of Default in the Business Court

When do treble damages need a passport?  In a Middle District opinion Wednesday, the Court held that a foreign plaintiff may assert an unfair and deceptive trade practices claim in North Carolina under certain circumstances.

Ada Liss Group (2003) v. Sara Lee Corp. (M.D.N.C. No. 06-CV-610) involved a decade-long dispute between North Carolina’s hosiery manufacturer and its exclusive distributor of certain products in Israel.  Under a 1994 Distributorship Agreement, Ada Liss bought the exclusive right to distribute Bali-branded women’s intimate apparel to retailers in Israel.  (Although we at this blog normally…

Continue Reading Illegal Briefs: Israeli Undergarment Importer Can Assert Chapter 75 Claim in M.D.N.C.

It’s not often that the Business Court is called upon to address matters of construction law.  Yesterday, though, the Court held that a general contractor’s lien waiver constituted a waiver both as to the amount and the priority of the contractor’s claims.

In Wachovia Bank, N.A. v. Superior Construction Corp., Wachovia was the construction lender and Superior was the general contractor on "The Preserve," a condominium development in Brunswick County that was owned by Intercoastal Living, LLC, now in receivership.  The project was only partially completed, and litigation ensued.  (A…

Continue Reading Lien Waiver Can Subordinate Materialman’s Whole Claim to Lender

What should you do if your firm’s e-mail account is down and you receive no e-mails for at least four days?  The Fourth Circuit says you’d better check your federal court dockets. 

In a published decision released Friday, Robinson v. Wix Filtration Corp., No. 09-1167 (4th Cir. Mar. 26, 2010), the Fourth Circuit affirmed a denial of Rule 59(e) motion to set aside entry of summary judgment against the plaintiff where the plaintiff’s attorney never received notice from the Western District of North Carolina that the…

Continue Reading Email Down? Find a Coffee Bar with PACER, Fast