The Court of Appeals today affirmed a trial court’s ruling that Wal-Mart had been properly assessed more than $30 million in taxes, penalties and interest. The case is Wal-Mart Stores East, Inc. v. Hinton.
The tax strategy of Wal-Mart rejected by the Court involved the discounter transferring the ownership of its stores to a
If you are working on a motion to dismiss in a federal case, you should stop right now and read the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today in Ashcroft v. Iqbal. The decision sharpens and refines the heightened standard for a Rule 12(b)(6) motion articulated by the Court in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550
The Fourth Circuit this week considered the antics of the Sigma Chi fraternity at George Mason University, and it didn’t like what it saw. In Iota Xi Chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity v. Patterson, the Court affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of the fraternity’s lawsuit asserting that its ten year ban from campus had
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered an opus today on whether a mutual fund investment advisor could be primarily liable under the federal securities laws for allegedly misleading statements in prospectuses issued by the mutual funds.
The case, First Derivative Traders v. Janus Capital Group, involves alleged misrepresentations by the Janus family of
When law firms break up, litigation often follows. The case of Merritt, Flebotte, Wilson, Webb & Caruso, PLLC v. Hemmings, decided Tuesday by the North Carolina Court of Appeals, involved claims between lawyers of defamation and violation of a nondisparagement provision in a settlement agreement.
The Defendants had left the Plaintiff’s firm to start
The Fourth Circuit today settled a nationwide debate, in this Circuit anyway, about an important issue involving automobile loans in Chapter 13 proceedings. That’s whether a lender can have a purchase money security interest for the portion of its financing which includes "negative equity" or other items associated with the loan, like "gap insurance."
The
The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that a mediator doesn’t have the authority to excuse a party from attendance at a mediated settlement conference, in the absence of approval of either all the parties or of the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge.
The issue arose in Perry v. GRP Financial Services Corp.
I’ve been writing this blog for a year now. Thanks to all of you have been reading it, and thanks especially for the nice comments I’ve gotten from many of you.
Today is also another birthday in our house, the eighteenth birthday of my daughter Maddie. We’ll have cake for Maddie later, but not the
A losing plaintiff would be liable for the defendant’s attorneys’ fees if a bill introduced this month in the North Carolina Senate becomes law.
Other pending bills of interest to litigators include one which would change the way in which the Rules of Civil Procedure and the Rules of Evidence can be amended, legislation which
The Fourth Circuit held today that the manner in which manufacturers of pest control products sold their products to consumers did not constitute illegal resale price maintenance. The decision in Valupest.com of Charlotte, Inc. v. Bayer Corp. rejected Plaintiffs’ argument that an antitrust stalwart, United States v. General Electric Co., 272 U.S. 476 (1926)