If you are wondering what North Carolina has to do to comply with the Affordable Care Act now that the Supreme Court has said it passes constitutional muster, there are better places to look than my blog. But there’s an excellent post from Professor Jill Moore at the UNC School of Government. It’s on the
Overly Persistent Plaintiff Socked With Attorneys’ Fees By Business Court
Persistence can be a valuable quality, but when it leads to an unjustified refusal to give up a questionable case, the party suffering from persistency can get socked with attorneys’ fees. That was the result in Judge Gale’s Order on Tuesday in McKinnon v. CV Industries, Inc.
McKinnon was entitled to benefits under a Severance
The NC Supreme Court Ducks The Opportunity To Opine on How To Challenge Business Court Jurisdiction
If you were waiting anxiously, as I was, for the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court to elucidate the process for challenging a Business Court designation, which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, your torture is over.
Chief Justice Parker ruled in a short Order in Ekren v. K&E
It’s Not Every Day That You Think About The Internal Affairs Doctrine (Or Res Judicata)
Wow. The Business Court was busier churning out opinions last week than I wanted to be working on my blog, so here’s a catchup and a rundown on two cases you should know about. Two more coming after the holiday.
Internal Affairs Doctrine. The internal affairs doctrine is a conflict of laws rule which says
Know Your “Business”: Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew When Drafting A Covenant Not To Compete
The broadly written scope of the covenant not to compete before the Business Court in Outdoor Lighting Perspectives Franchising, Inc. v. Harders led to the denial of Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction this week.
The covenant said that the Defendant, a franchisee of the Olaintiff, could not compete "in any Competitive Business." The term
Fee Fi Fo FIRREA: NC Business Court On Maintainability Of Claims Against Banks Which Buy The Assets Of Failed Banks
The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, affectionately known to banking lawyers as FIRREA, is a statute passed by Congress in the late 1980’s at the tail end of the savings and loan crisis of that decade. It bars lawsuits against institutions in FDIC receivership and requires that claims first be presented to the
Fourth Circuit Sends Plaintiff To The Boondocks For International Arbitration, But With A Round Trip Ticket
The Fourth Circuit last week affirmed a ruling that an injured plaintiff had to arbitrate his claims against his employers in the Philippines, but ruled that the District Court had improperly dismissed his claims for injunctive relief, in Aggarao v. MOL Ship Management Co.
Aggarao had suffered horrible injuries. They occurred when the ship
Claims Under The North Carolina Securities Act Are Easier To Make Now
Judge Murphy set some new ground rules for cases brought under the North Carolina Securities Act (the NCSA) last week in Associated Packaging, Inc. v. Jackson Paper Manufacturing Co., 2012 NCBC 13. The Jackson Paper case is an important read for any lawyer bringing or defending an NCSA claim in the Business Court. Sorry
How Much Is That Doggie In The Window? (Not Much, Says The NC Court Of Appeals)
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The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled last week in Shera v. N.C. State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital that dog owners are not entitled to recover damages for the negligent death of their pet beyond the cost to replace the pet. In other words, a sentimental attachment to a pet does not result in an
Don’t Keep Your Trade Secrets Secret If You Are Pursuing A Trade Secrets Claim In The Business Court
I’ve written before about trade secrets claims being dismissed by the Business Court and the NC Court of Appeals because the trade secrets were too broadly referenced and not describe
d with “sufficient particularity". Two of those cases are Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc. v. Rogers, 2011 NCBC 41; and Washburn v. Yadkin Valley Bank