Last week the Supreme Court of North Carolina adopted amendments to the General Rules of Practice, clearing the way for the implementation of the Judicial Branch’s eCourts initiative. In case you missed it, over the next few years, North Carolina Courts will implement the Odyssey Integrated Case Management System (Odyssey ICMS), which among other things, will allow attorneys to file pleadings digitally.
The Supreme Court’s recent order affects the following rules:
Rule 5, “Filing of Pleadings and Other Documents in Counties with Odyssey”
Rule 5.1, “Filing of Pleadings and Other Documents in Counties Without Odyssey”
Rule 22, “Local Rules of Practice and Procedure”
Rule 27, “Sealed Documents and Protective Orders”
Read the rest of the NCAOC’s press release here —LINK.
The first four counties — Harnett, Johnston, Lee, and Wake — are projected to go live on Odyssey in August 2021. Electronic filing is one small component of the eCourts initiative. For a full listing of all the changes you can expect in the near future, please visit NCAOC’s eCourts webpage for a comprehensive explanation of the eCourts initiative and rollout plan — LINK.
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Disputes between members of a family-owned or closely-held business or parties to a long-standing business relationship are similar to divorces in many ways – emotions run high and the parties may need to keep working together, like it or not. Instead of the best interests of the children, the common goal could be to keep a business that’s lasted for three generations alive or finish a construction project that will no longer be economically viable if one party pulls out and heads to court.
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The NCBA Litigation Section is seeking nominations for the Advocate’s Award, the highest award of the Litigation Section. The award was established to recognize members of the Litigation Section who are the superstars of our profession. A description of the award, the necessary qualifications, past winners of the award, and a nomination form is available on the Litigation Section page of the North Carolina Bar Association’s website by clicking here.
The nomination process has been streamlined for 2020/21. Nominations can be submitted online using a fillable form. The Advocate’s Award Committee hopes to receive many deserving nominations. We all have been privileged to work with some truly great litigators, so make sure to nominate the superstars you know for the Advocate’s Award. The deadline for this year’s nominations is March 26, 2021.
Please note: (1) the award may be conferred and nominations may be made posthumously; (2) nominees who do not receive the award may be considered for the award in subsequent years without being re-nominated; and (3) nominees who are currently practicing must be a member of the Litigation Section to be considered for the award.
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Since the last 27 days didn’t give you much bandwidth to absorb any more new information, you may have missed the fact that we haven’t posted any new content to the blog yet. Our goal is to have a new article up every week, so we are already behind schedule. Which is partly why we are now calling on you!
The success of this blog depends on our members sharing their knowledge and experiences, as well as upcoming opportunities and events. Posting to the Litigation Section Blog is not only a good way to make sure your colleagues are informed, but to make sure they know who you are. All of us have likely seen referrals from other counsel, and showing your knowledge here can help you with that endeavor.
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As a tumultuous 2020 nears to a close, there has never been a better time to give back to those who are most in need. One way to give back is to share your legal expertise through current and upcoming NCBA pro bono opportunities, a few of which we have highlighted below.
We hope you will help us carry on our Section’s strong tradition of supporting and participating in pro bono and community service activities as we move together into the new year.
Thank you for considering these worthwhile projects.
We have all experienced the dread of another Zoom meeting or Webex hearing, but why is it so hard to keep your energy and attention up when the webcam light is on?
And why are we so exhausted at the end of the day?
Before you step in front of the webcam for your next court appearance, it helps to consider some of the “digital drawbacks” and how you can minimize their impact on your advocacy.
Digital Drawbacks
Audio-visual delays. Even if the technology is working perfectly, microseconds of delay can impact how we communicate and how we are perceived. Research has shown that even small delays in the transmission of auditory and visual signals affect interpersonal perceptions. Delays of only 1.2 seconds led to perceptions that a person was less friendly or less focused.
Eye contact. We all know that it’s missing from our online interactions. It matters because there is robust psychosocial evidence that eye contact improves not only connection, but also memory.
Distractions. Going to court over Zoom or Webex is like walking into the courtroom with a giant mirror and placing it between you and the bench. It’s too easy to spend the entire time looking at yourself. Meanwhile, your listeners are facing their own struggles — kids, pets, coworkers, technology failures (or user errors), email notifications, and the temptation of multitasking.
“Zoom Fatigue.” We normally process non-verbal communications automatically. However, the small amount of non-verbal communication that makes it onto our screens must be consciously observed. That’s taxing. Added to that is the heightened stress caused by the increased emphasis on facial expressions and cues. This “cognitive load” (the use of working memory resources) means your mind will want a break more often than it did when everyone gathered in one place. Read more
Unfortunately, prognostications that COVID-19 would disappear post-election did not turn out to be true. As House Stark would say, winter is coming. Everyone seems to be preparing, including Gov. Cooper, who on Monday mandated that masks must be worn indoors whenever someone not in the same household is present and outdoors whenever physical distancing isn’t possible.
Our counties’ court staff, who have already been diligently working to keep courtrooms safe and the wheels of justice turning, have seen Chief Justice Beasley’s emergency directives extended, and in some counties, have issued new updates regarding courthouse procedure and courtroom accessibility. For instance, in Wake County, directives have been issued reducing civil court and clerk operations for Thanksgiving week and beyond, including eliminating all in-person civil superior court hearings through 12/31. Criminal trials have resumed and will continue, but with a significant different look and feel (click here for WRAL’s peek into the courtroom, and here for a picture of the jury packet being given to jurors). A bulleted outline of Wake County’s courthouse operation is below. Read more
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Arbitration provisions appear in millions of contracts that cover many different types of agreements and transactions. For decades, the United States Supreme Court has expanded the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), which facilitates contract-based dispute resolution through arbitration. Over the years, the FAA’s expansion has helped corporations adopt especially broad, boilerplate arbitration clauses that mandate arbitration for any and all disputes, claims, or controversies between any related party/agent/beneficiary/affiliate arising from or relating in any way to the underlying agreement, aptly named “infinite” arbitration clauses. See David Horton, Infinite Arbitration Clauses, 168 Pa. L. Rev. Online 633 (2020) (defining infinite arbitration clauses as “those that mandate arbitration for all disputes between any related party in perpetuity”). Infinite arbitration clauses are “relatively new and untested.” Mey, 971 F.3d at 287. In Mey v. DIRECTV, 971 F.3d 284 (4th Cir. 2020), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals expanded the reach of the FAA in a significant way – by allowing corporations to enforce infinite arbitration clauses of a distant affiliate.
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What You Need to Know About the New Community Platform
This year, the NCBA has switched to a new online community platform. This new community platform for Sections, Divisions and Councils offers many more features than the previous system. Below is a summary of the basics and what you need to know to utilize this platform and its features.
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“There can be no life without change, and to be afraid of what is different or unfamiliar is to be afraid of life.” – Theodore Roosevelt
In January, when I began to think about my plans and goals for my term as Chair of the NCBA Litigation Section, I had no idea that COVID-19 would pull the rug out from under me.
The worldwide pandemic unfortunately means that at least for this year, we can’t continue our popular networking socials, group attendance at sporting events, and in-person CLEs. The NCBA recently indicated that no in-person events may be planned for the remainder of the Bar Year (ending June 30, 2021).
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By Adam Banks
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This post originally appeared on Wyrick.com and has been republished with permission. 
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