The North Carolina Business Court sent a message to all lawyers practicing in the Business Court last week in Barclift v. Martin, 2018 NCBC 5. Judge Gale said in the ruling that:
The Court is publishing this Order & Opinion to provide guidance to the practicing bar on the statutory process for designating
The Business Court doesn’t often discuss its interpretation of the statutory bases for a designation to the Court, all of which are contained in G.S. sec. 7A-45.4. So its published Order this month in Southeastern Automotive, Inc. v. Genuine Parts Co. 2016 NCBC 61, is worth noting.
The issue in Southeastern Automotive was
The Business Court issued a significant Order last week, in Composite Fabrics of America, LLC v. Edge Structural Composites, Inc., 2016 NCBC 11 that Judge Gale said was an "opportunity to clarify. . .how the Court interprets the statutory mandates for designating a case as a mandatory complex business case" and that the Business
A bill was introduced this week in the NC General Assembly that would be entitled "An Act to Modernize the Business Court By Making Technical, Clarifying, And Administrative Changes To The Procedures For Complex Business Cases." Here’s the text of the bill.
This is a summary of the proposed changes:
Appeals From Business Court
The Business Court has mandatory jurisdiction under N.C. Gen. Stat. §7A-45.4 over claims involving "antitrust law, except claims based solely on unfair competition under N.C. Gen. Stat. §75-1.1."
The Court gave a broad reading to its grant of its antitrust jurisdiction in an Order today in Sonic Automotive, Inc. v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, in
Service of process can be made by leaving the Summons and Complaint at the Defendant’s residence, even though not in literal compliance with Rule 4, if the Defendant has evaded service.
The Defendant will waive an objection to service (and to jurisdiction) by filing a Notice of Designation to the North Carolina Business Court, because "the
A Notice of Designation must be actually filed in the county in which the case originated within thirty days of receipt of service of the Complaint in order to be timely, not just served within that time frame.
N.C. Gen. Stat.Sec. 7A-45.4(b) allows a defendant to designate an action as a complex business case "by filing a Notice of