North Carolina

  • February 19, 2026

    Paralegal Can Pursue Her ADA Bias Suit Against Former Firm

    A former paralegal at The Driscoll Firm PC can pursue her lawsuit alleging the firm discriminated against her after she informed higher-ups that her cancer had metastasized, because a North Carolina federal judge said she stated plausible claims for relief.

  • February 19, 2026

    Northrop Grumman 401(k) Suit Dropped For 4th Circ. Appeal

    A Virginia federal judge dismissed a suit Thursday against Northrop Grumman from workers who alleged misspending of 401(k) forfeitures, a step that followed the parties settling a final claim in anticipation of workers' Fourth Circuit appeal of the court's December order tossing most claims in the dispute.

  • February 19, 2026

    Law Firm Says Sports Database Co. Defaulted On $116K Bill

    College sports database service Winthrop Intelligence LLC failed to pay a just under $116,000 bill for three months of legal representation in Winthrop's contentious asset battle with the widow of the company's co-founder, a law firm told a North Carolina state court.

  • February 19, 2026

    Judge Brown To Exit NC Biz Court With Successor Named

    North Carolina Business Court Judge A. Todd Brown is stepping down from the bench less than two years into his term, the state judicial branch said Thursday in an announcement that named Judge Graham Shirley as his successor.

  • February 19, 2026

    'Sealed Container' Defense Sinks Exploding Battery Suit

    A North Carolina appeals panel won't revive a man's suit against a retailer and distributor alleging he was sold a defective lithium-ion battery that exploded in his pocket, saying all his claims are blocked by the sealed container defense.

  • February 18, 2026

    Duke Energy's $17M Fuel Cost Recovery Improper, Panel Says

    The North Carolina Utilities Commission was wrong to let Duke Energy recover over $17 million in fuel costs two years after they were incurred, a North Carolina appeals court panel ruled Wednesday, finding that a statute permits utilities to recover only the fuel costs incurred during a one-year "lookback period."

  • February 18, 2026

    4th Circ. Rejects Under Armour's Coverage Rehearing Request

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday rejected Under Armour's request to reconsider a recent ruling that capped its coverage for a securities class action, government investigations and derivative matters at $100 million.

  • February 18, 2026

    BofA Military Interest Cap Suit Should Be Tossed, Judge Says

    A North Carolina federal judge has recommended tossing a proposed class action accusing Bank of America of violating an interest cap law for military service members, saying the veteran plaintiffs have failed to allege any actual violations of federal or state law.

  • February 18, 2026

    Sen. IP Leads Worry About Outsize Standards Influencers

    U.S. senators who lead the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on intellectual property wrote to the head of the American National Standards Institute stressing "the essential importance of integrity, balance and transparency" while developing standards in the U.S.

  • February 18, 2026

    NC Biz Court Slashes Tex-Mex Chain's Trade Secrets Case

    The former manager of an upscale Tex-Mex restaurant in North Carolina pared down a trade secrets suit accusing him of replicating the dining concept at another restaurant in Missouri, with a state judge throwing out all but one breach of contract claim against him.

  • February 18, 2026

    State Law Matters More For Bankruptcy Tolling, NC Justices Told

    A real estate rental agency told North Carolina's high court Wednesday that it didn't miss its chance to collect a $507,000 debt because a decade-long statute of limitations period for judgment renewal was tolled by the debtor's bankruptcy.

  • February 18, 2026

    Meta Pixel Tracking Suit Tossed Over Lack Of Standing

    A North Carolina federal judge has ruled that a prospective class of Nurse.com users lacked standing to sue the website's operator for Video Privacy Protection Act violations for allegedly sharing customers' information with Meta Platforms Inc. without permission.

  • February 18, 2026

    Insurer Must Cover $5.5M Crash Settlement, 4th Circ. Says

    A highway construction company is entitled to coverage under a subcontractor's policy for a $5.5 million settlement over two motorcycle crashes, the Fourth Circuit held Wednesday, finding that the company's liability to the victims was causally connected to the subcontractor's placement of work zone signage.

  • February 18, 2026

    4th Circ. Backs Military Policy Banning HIV-Positive Enlistees

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday upheld a U.S. Department of Defense policy that bans HIV-positive Americans from enlisting, deferring to the military's judgment that it must have healthy and fit service members who do not require consistent treatment for chronic medical conditions. 

  • February 18, 2026

    NC City Not Covered In Wrongful Conviction Suit, Court Told

    An insurer claimed it has no duty to defend or indemnify a city government or one of its police detectives against a civil suit brought by a man who was wrongfully convicted of the 2008 murder of a University of North Carolina student, the insurer told a North Carolina federal court.

  • February 18, 2026

    Diversity In Demand Feeds Data Center REITs' Gains

    Real estate investment trusts Equinix Inc. and Digital Realty Inc. attributed the growth they experienced last quarter and last year to data center demand from various sources, including business sectors beyond cloud computing and information technology.

  • February 17, 2026

    NC Town Files Latest PFAS Suit Against 3M, DuPont

    A Tar Heel State municipality has accused 3M, DuPont, Chemours and more than a dozen other chemical and firefighting‑foam manufacturers of concealing risks and environmental contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS)‑laden foam used at the town's fire training facility in a lawsuit filed in North Carolina state court. 

  • February 17, 2026

    States Hit Discovery Roadblocks In HPE Merger Fight With DOJ

    A California federal judge mostly sided with the Justice Department on Tuesday on the latest discovery disputes in state attorneys general's challenge to a DOJ settlement greenlighting Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion Juniper acquisition, ruling that HPE doesn’t need to reveal who's bidding for divested assets, and refusing to delay deadlines.

  • February 17, 2026

    4th Circ. Vacates Prison Officers' Immunity In Violent Assault

    A split Fourth Circuit revived the lawsuit of an incarcerated North Carolina man alleging correctional officers failed to prevent a violent attack by an incarcerated "safekeeper" after leaving open sallyport doors separating the two, ruling Tuesday risks could've been abated had they simply kept doors closed, as required under prison policy.

  • February 17, 2026

    4th Circ. Won't Revive Advance Auto Parts Fraud Suit

    The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday declined to revive a suit by investors claiming Advance Auto Parts and its top brass misled them about the failure of a new pricing strategy and about accounting errors, ruling they failed to allege the auto parts retailer had wrongful intent.

  • February 17, 2026

    Judge Rips Drugmakers' Borderline 'Disingenuous' Appeal Bid

    A Connecticut federal judge has rejected generic-drug makers' request for a quick appeal of his ruling denying them summary judgment on states' claims they engaged in an "overarching conspiracy" to fix prices, slamming the request for being borderline "disingenuous," mischaracterizing his reasoning and ignoring direct evidence of alleged wrongdoing.

  • February 17, 2026

    NC Justices Asked To Undo Earth Fare Founder's $195K Award

    Organic supermarket chain Earth Fare and its post-bankruptcy owner told North Carolina's top court on Tuesday that its founder can't recover damages for work he was salaried to do while revitalizing the brand, saying the justices should unravel a $195,000 unjust enrichment verdict in his favor.

  • February 17, 2026

    County's Tourism Tax Use Was Reasonable, NC Justices Told

    Counsel for a coastal North Carolina county told the state's Supreme Court justices Tuesday that commissioners' decision to spend occupancy tax dollars on public safety and infrastructure wasn't arbitrary and capricious, while opining that buying carnival equipment for their own pleasure might be.

  • February 17, 2026

    States Say FEMA Ignoring Disaster Mitigation Funding Order

    Two months after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's cancellation of a federal disaster mitigation program was illegal, the government has not shown any signs of restoring it, a coalition of states said Tuesday.

  • February 17, 2026

    Volvo Faces Class Suit Claiming Unpaid Call Center Work

    Volvo violated federal and state law by forcing customer service representatives to perform unpaid overtime work in order to be "phone ready" the moment their shifts began, a former employee said in a proposed class action filed in North Carolina federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • Compliance Steps To Take As FCRA Enforcement Widens

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    As the Fair Credit Reporting Act receives renewed focus from both federal and state enforcers, regulatory and litigation risk is most acute in several core areas, which companies can address by implementing purpose processes and quick remediation of consumer complaints, among other steps, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • Where 4th And 9th Circ. Diverge On Trade Secret Timing

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    Recent Fourth and Ninth Circuit decisions have revealed a deepening circuit split over when plaintiffs must specifically define their alleged trade secrets, turning the early stages of trade secret litigation into a key battleground and elevating the importance of forum selection, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

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    After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

  • Series

    Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

  • H-2A Rule Rollback Sheds Light On 2 Policy Litigation Issues

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    The Trump administration’s recent refusal to defend an immigration regulation implemented by the Biden administration highlights a questionable process that both parties have used to bypass the Administrative Procedure Act’s rulemaking process, and points toward the next step in the fight over universal injunctions, says Mark Stevens at Clark Hill.

  • Protecting Sensitive Court Filings After Recent Cyber Breach

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    In the wake of a recent cyberattack on federal courts' Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, civil litigants should consider seeking enhanced protections for sensitive materials filed under seal to mitigate the risk of unauthorized exposure, say attorneys at Redgrave.

  • DOJ Settlement Offers Guide To Avoiding Key Antitrust Risks

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    The U.S. Justice Department's settlement with Greystar Management shows why parties looking to acquire companies that use pricing recommendation software should carefully examine whether the software algorithm and how it is used in the market create antitrust dangers, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Series

    NC Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    There were several impactful changes to the financial services landscape in North Carolina in the third quarter of the year, including statutory updates, enforcement developments from Office of the Commissioner of Banks, and notable mergers, acquisitions and branch expansions, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • How AI Can Find Environmental Risks Before Regulators Do

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    By using artificial intelligence to analyze public information that regulators collect but find incredibly challenging to connect across agencies and databases, legal teams can identify risks before widespread health impacts occur, rather than waiting for harm to surface — potentially transforming environmental litigation, says Paul Napoli at Napoli Shkolnik.

  • Series

    Judging Figure Skating Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Judging figure skating competitions helps me hone the focus, decisiveness and ability to process complex real-time information I need in court, but more importantly, it makes me reengage with a community and my identity outside of law, which, paradoxically, always brings me back to work feeling restored, says Megan Raymond at Groombridge Wu.

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