From April 2009 through January 2010, I did a post at the beginning of each month on the new cases designated to the Business Court during the prior month. That’s been missing during my hiatus, without any outcry, but I am now resuming that service for October 2010.  There were nine new cases last month, running the usual gamut of minority shareholder claims to trade secrets claims, and breaches of fiduciary duty.

Blount Three Properties, LLC v. York Properties, Inc. (New Hanover):  Allegations that promoter and broker of shopping center

Continue Reading New Cases In The North Carolina Business Court: October 2010

I had no idea that utility companies trim trees with saws hanging from helicopters. That’s going to make me all the more certain to look up when I hear a helicopter.

I learned this interesting tidbit from one of the new cases (with a plaintiff aptly named "Aerial Solutions") of the six designated to the North Carolina Business Court in December 2009. Those are listed below.

The total for new cases designated to the Business Court during 2009, by my count, was one hundred and eleven.

Allen Smith Investment Poperties,

Continue Reading New Cases In The North Carolina Business Court: December 2009

Nine  new cases were designated to the Business Court during November 2009:

Alexander Hospital Investors, LLC v. Frye Regional Medical Center, Inc. (Alexander)(Tennille): dispute between the owner of Alexander Community Hospital and its former tenant regarding the Defendant’s alleged actions in causing the facility to lose its Medicare and Medicaid certification.

American Mechanical, Inc. v. Bostic (Randolph)(Diaz): claims against officers and directors of an insolvent corporation for constructive fraud and breach of fiduciary duty to creditors. The same claims are made in the Yates Construction case, below, and are similar

Continue Reading New Cases In The North Carolina Business Court: November 2009

There were ten new cases designated to the Business Court during October 2009. They include two lawsuits against former officers and directors of Wachovia regarding the collapse of Wachovia (Browne and Harris).

Abraham v. Jauregui (Onslow)(Jolly): fraud claims by 77 plaintiffs involving coastal real estate developments.

Blackburn v. L.E. Wooten & Company (Wake)(Jolly): claims regarding alleged breach of shareholders agreement, failure to pay dividends, frustration of reasonable expectations. The claims are similar to those made in the Kwong case, below.

Browne v. Thompson (Forsyth)(Jolly): claims by holders of

Continue Reading New Cases In The North Carolina Business Court: October 2009

Eleven new cases were designated to the Business Court in September 2009, including a class action against the North Carolina Department of Revenue claiming that the taxation of retirement benefits paid to certain state employees is unconstitutional (Pendergraph).

Bankers Life and Casualty Co. v. Barnes (Mecklenburg)(Diaz): claims for misappropriation of confidential information and trade secrets and violation of covenants not to compete.

Comor Corp. v. Comor Communications, LLC (Guilford)(Tennille): derivative action.

Global Promotions Group, Inc. v. Danas, Inc. (Wake)(Jolly): designated based on allegations that BB&T and its employee improperly

Continue Reading New Cases In The North Carolina Business Court: September 2009

Six new cases were designated to the Business Court in August 2009, including a case seeking class certification over charges for medical records (Toney), and a shareholder dispute pitting a father against his son (Shallcross).

Moltzon v. King (Wake)(Tennille): minority shareholder dispute in which plaintiff alleges the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by starting a competing business and forcing him out.

Oak-Bark Corp. v. French (New Hanover)(Tennille); Action by plaintiff against former employees for breach of restrictive covenants and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Shallcross v. Shallcross (Wake):

Continue Reading New Cases In The North Carolina Business Court: August 2009

July was a slow month for new Business Court cases. By my count, there were only eight. One involves a hurricane (Bodie Island), another involves children’s cartoon characters (Middleton), a third involves telephone poles (Town of Murphy), and the others raise the usual allegations of corporate malfeasance and misconduct.

Bodie Island Beach Club Association, Inc. v. Wray (Dare)(Jolly): Derivative action by condominium homeowners association asserting claims for legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty. The claims stem from the process by which the use

Continue Reading New Cases In The North Carolina Business Court: July 2009

There were ten new cases designated to the North Carolina Business Court during June 2009, down from eighteen in May and fourteen in April.  The June cases are as follows:

Anderson & Associates of Virginia, Inc. v. Tuscany Development Co. (Guilford)(Tennille): whether an individual can be personally liable for the obligations of an LLC when the entity was erroneously designated in the contract documents.

Berton v. Jacobson (Wake)(Jolly):alleged misrepresentations to induce plaintiffs to invest in limited liability companies, allegations of a Ponzi scheme.  Claims under the North Carolina Securities

Continue Reading New Cases In The North Carolina Business Court: June 2009

Eighteen new cases were designated to the Business Court during the month of May 2009.  Most are the usual disputes between members, partners, or shareholders of business organizations, but there are a few securities claims and a couple of trade secrets cases as well.

[Update: It’s actually nineteen new cases, I added the Napco case, which I had overlooked, after this post was first published.]

American Acquisition, LLC v. Goldman (Mecklenburg)(Diaz): claims involving dissolution of general partnership, and general partner’s refusal to distribute proceeds from sale of partnership asset based

Continue Reading New Cases In The North Carolina Business Court: May 2009

This post is a listing and short summary of the fourteen new cases designated to the Business Court during the month of April 2009.  I may start doing a post like this on a monthly basis.

The Sunbelt v. Ahern case (which was settled almost immediately after it was filed) made me think of Yogi Berra.

1st Americard, Inc. v. Kitchens (Mecklenburg)(Diaz) and Grainger v. Kitchens (Union) (Diaz): Dispute between shareholders of a credit card processing company.

Ammons v. Fire & Wire, inc. (Guilford)(Tennille): Dispute between shareholders of a fire

Continue Reading New Cases In The North Carolina Business Court: April 2009