Fees

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Section 6-21.5 of the North Carolina General Statutes is the closest thing the State has to "loser pays." It allows for the award of attorneys’ fees to a prevailing party "if the court finds that there was a complete absence of a justiciable issue of either law or fact raised by the losing party in any pleading."

The plaintiff in Jacobson v. Walsh, 2014 NCBC 2, decided by Judge Murphy this week, didn’t ever give up on his claims for breach of fiduciary duty and fraudulent concealment…

Continue Reading Never Give Up? Never Surrender? Probably Bad Advice In The Business Court

Premier, Inc. v. Peterson, 2012 NCBC 59, decided last Friday by Judge Murphy, turned on a strict application of the parol evidence rule.

At issue was whether the defendants were entitled to a substantial earn-out payment under a Stock Purchase Agreement.  The Plaintiff had purchased the Defendants’ software business of selling a Web-based surveillance and analytic services to healthcare providers.

Interpretation of the Contract

The Stock Purchase Agreement called for the earnout payment to be made on a series of five year anniversaries of the acquisition date.  The calculation…

Continue Reading Parol Evidence Rule Barred Defendants’ Interpretation Of Earn-Out Provision

The  NC Court of Appeals ruled today on what it means to be a "prevailing party" under N.C. Gen. Stat. §6-21.5 so as to be entitled to recover attorneys’ fees. There was no North Carolina precedent — until now — on this issue.

The effect of the ruling may be that fees under the statute, which are allowed to a prevailing party "if the court finds that there was a complete absence of a justiciable issue of either law or fact raised by the losing party in any pleading," will…

Continue Reading The Court Of Appeals Clarifies What It Means To Be A “Prevailing Party” Entitled To Attorneys’ Fees