Join the Appellate Practice Section in Celebrating Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

By Kip Nelson

The NCBA’s Appellate Practice Section invites you to attend a virtual presentation celebrating the life, achievements, and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, told through three of her former clerks. Our panelists will discuss the experience of clerking for Justice Ginsburg, her tremendous legacy to the legal profession, and her impact on them personally. The event will take place on Friday, December 18, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Please use the link below to register to attend by noon on Thursday, December 17. We encourage you to invite others to attend the event as well.

This event is part of the Appellate Practice Section’s new “Appellate Insights” program, which will present speakers on a variety of topics of interest to appellate practitioners and the North Carolina bar. We hope you can join us for this and future events.

Register for the event using this link. Please note that you must be logged in to your NCBA account to complete your registration.

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Supreme Court of North Carolina Announces Move to Universal Citation Method

By Travis Hinman 

Beginning Jan. 1, 2021, the North Carolina appellate courts will use the universal citation method for judicial opinions and publications. Each opinion filed by the Supreme Court of North Carolina and the North Carolina Court of Appeals will receive a unique opinion number and include paragraph numbers. The universal citation method increases access to judicial opinions by providing an identifying number independent from any third-party publisher’s volume of cases and making it easier to find opinions online. Universal citations will be used as parallel citations only, and citations to the official printed reporters will remain the same.

You can read more about the Supreme Court’s order adopting the universal citation method here and here.

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Recent Amendments to the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure

By Erik Zimmerman

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of North Carolina amended the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure, changing the rules for obtaining and filing transcripts on appeal. The amendments are available here. Under the new rules, the transcriptionist must deliver the transcript to all parties to the appeal, eliminating any need for appellees to pay for their own copies of the transcript. The rule changes also shift the burden of filing the transcript in the appellate courts from the transcriptionist to the appellant. Additionally, the amendments make timing changes, extending the time for completing the transcript from 60 to 90 days and the time for serving the proposed record on appeal from 35 to 45 days after completion of the transcript.
Read more

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Appellate Practice Section CLE – Call for Contributions

Erik Zimmerman

Jonathan Ellis

By Erik Zimmerman and Jonathan Ellis

The Appellate Practice Section of the North Carolina Bar Association is planning its annual CLE for June 2021. The Section’s CLE committee is currently assembling the program for the CLE. In the interest of making the program as relevant and actionable as possible for members of the Section and the bar, the committee invites your input on potential topics and speakers. If you have suggestions about topics you would like to see covered or speakers you would like to hear from, or if you are interested in presenting on a particular topic yourself, please contact the co-chairs of the CLE committee — Jonathan Ellis ([email protected]) and Erik Zimmerman ([email protected]) — who would welcome your ideas.

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Join The Bluebook Club!

By Travis Hinman

Are you interested in networking and socializing with other members of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Section? COVID-19 has restricted our ability to host meet-and-greet and other social events in person, but the Appellate Practice Section is excited to unveil The Bluebook Club as a virtual way for appellate lawyers to connect. Sign up now to join a small group of other appellate-minded attorneys during one or more Zoom social meetings. You can choose one of the two dates below — or, better yet, join us for both. Each registrant will be assigned into a small group of 3-6 other participants for a fun, quick discussion over the lunch break. No need to fear those dreaded, awkward Zoom silences we’ve all come to know too well — we’ll provide appellate-oriented icebreakers to kick-start your discussion. We look forward to seeing you!

Read more

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Fight Hunger, Help Others in the COVID-19 Pandemic – Participate in the Legal Feeding Frenzy and Support Your Local Food Bank!

Michele Livingstone

Will Quick

By Michele Livingstone and Will Quick

We are in unprecedented times with COVID-19 (Coronavirus).  It is now more important than ever that we help our neighbors and those who are not as fortunate. I am confident that each of you is doing your part.

Even in the best of times, however, over 1.5 Million North Carolinians struggle with hunger—of those, nearly half a million are children. With public schools and many religious and nonprofit organizations that traditionally serve the food insecure in our communities being closed for indefinite periods, and government leaders calling for social distancing to help limit the spread of Coronavirus, that need is never more pressing than now.

Read more

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Save the Date! Appellate Practice Section Social on April 30th in Charlotte

By Jeff Kelly 

We are excited to announce that the Appellate Practice Section’s Spring Social will be held at Dandelion Market in Charlotte on April 30, 2020! Please mark your calendars:

Appellate Practice Section Spring Social
Thursday, April 30, 2020
5 – 7 p.m.
Dandelion Market
118 West 5th St.
Charlotte, NC 28202

As many of you know, last year’s Spring Social was an incredible opportunity for our appellate community to meet in the western part of our state. We are grateful that Bonnie Keith Green has returned to organize this event, so we are confident that it will be another fantastic gathering of our bench and bar.

We hope that you will join us. Please RSVP here!

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Register for “Trusts, Taxes and Trials: An In-Depth Look at the U.S. Supreme Court Kaestner Decision” on Jan. 28 in Cary

By Jeff Kelly

Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court issued a major trust tax decision in North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kaestner Trust, holding that a trust beneficiary’s residence cannot be the sole basis for a state’s imposition of its income tax on the trust’s undistributed income. The Court’s decision broke roughly 90 years of silence on whether such taxes violate the Due Process Clause and will shape tax policy for years to come.

Given the importance of the Kaestner decision to many practice areas, it should be no surprise that the Appellate Practice, Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law, Litigation, and Tax Sections have joined up to co-sponsor a robust half-day CLE program on January 28, 2020:

Trusts, Taxes and Trials: An In-Depth Look at the U.S. Supreme Court Kaestner Decision

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

North Carolina Bar Center

8000 Weston Parkway

Cary, NC 27513

The complete agenda and registration information can be found here. Do not miss out on this great program!

If you are interested in publishing an article with the Appellate Practice Section Blog, please contact Jeff Kelly at [email protected].

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A celebration so historic that it belongs in a museum: The North Carolina Supreme Court Bicentennial Gala and Museum of History Exhibit.

By Jeff Kelly

Earlier this year, our Immediate Past Chair Gregg F. Schwitzgebel III wrote about the significant commemorative period for the North Carolina Judicial System and noted that the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the North Carolina Supreme Court had only just begun.

Throughout 2019, the North Carolina Judicial Branch’s observation of the bicentennial anniversary of the Supreme Court has created several opportunities to showcase the importance of the judiciary and the rule of law through events such as ceremonial sessions, speaking to North Carolinians about civics, and holding oral arguments across North Carolina. Members of the bar have also collaborated to organize several memorable events. Most recently, the bench and bar convened for a spectacular gala hosted by the North Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society. We are also less than a month away from the grand opening of a special exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of History that will celebrate our Supreme Court.

Read more

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Appellate Practice Section Social on September 12 in Raleigh

By Jeff Kelly

In less than two weeks, the Appellate Practice Section is bidding farewell to summer with a social at The Raleigh Times!

Appellate Practice Section Fall Social
Thursday, September 12, 2019
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
The Raleigh Times
14 E. Hargett St.
Raleigh, NC 27601

Our Fall Social is an excellent opportunity to connect with old and new friends while we have appellate practitioners in town for the Section’s Annual Meeting and CLE. As always, this event is open to the bench and bar alike, so please RSVP here.

A special thanks to Stephen Feldman and the NCBA team for organizing another fantastic opportunity for the appellate community to gather. We are also grateful for the continued support of our sponsors:

  • Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP
  • Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP
  • Ellis & Winters LLP
  • Fox Rothschild LLP
  • McGuireWoods
  • Poyner Spruill LLP
  • Ragsdale Liggett PLLC
  • Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.
  • Shanahan Law Group, PLLC
  • Sigmon Law, PLLC
  • Young Moore and Henderson, P.A.

We hope that you all will join us!

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