Recent North Carolina Administrative Law Cases of Interest

By the Communications Committee 

North Carolina Supreme Court

Bartley v. City of High Point, North Carolina Supreme Court, June 17, 2022, Published

Whether the Court of Appeals properly affirmed the trial court’s partial denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to the claims against him in his individual capacity, finding genuine issues of material fact exist concerning whether defendant acted with malice when arresting plaintiff, thereby overcoming the presumption of public official immunity that would otherwise bar such claims against defendant.

Fund Holder Reps., LLC v. N.C. Dep’t of State Treasurer, North Carolina Supreme Court, June 17, 2022, Published, affirming per curiam the Court of Appeals December 31, 2020 decision.

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the trial court’s order affirming the Treasurer’s declaratory ruling, which concluded that N.C.G.S. 116B-78(d) prohibits property finders from depositing checks into trust accounts for their clients.

The Court of Appeals discusses: the proper standard of review for an appeal from an agency’s declaratory ruling under G.S. § 150B-4; implicitly discusses differences between a general declaratory ruling and a more specific one; and, discusses the impact of the North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act (2019) on the Treasurer’s declaratory ruling.

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Paralegal Spotlight: Jennifer Gaff

By the Communications Committee

This month’s Paralegal Spotlight is on Jennifer Gaff, a Senior Litigation Paralegal at Raleigh Law Center.

Jennifer is a North Carolina Certified Paralegal who has been a paralegal for the past 15 years. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from UNC Charlotte, and then later obtained her Paralegal Program Certificate from Meredith College. Jennifer spends her workdays drafting pleadings, discovery, and separation agreements, trial preparation, attending court when needed, calendaring hearings and mediations, and the list goes on. When off the clock, Jennifer likes to go to the gym or to spend time with her family and friends.

We asked Jennifer some questions to better understand this division member’s story:

What do you do to relax (and why)?

I have learned over the past couple of months that I love to grill. So my idea of relaxing, especially after a long hard day, is to sit on my deck with my pups, Bentley and Daisy, with a Truly and a grill dinner.

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Thank You from Corporate Counsel Section Chair Christine Mazzone

By Christine Mazzone

Hello Corporate Counsel Section members,

It has been an honor to serve as Chair of the NCBA’s Corporate Counsel Section for the 2021-2022 bar year. Thank you for your membership in the NCBA’s Corporate Counsel Section and participation in the section’s events and programs this year. From fun networking events (including trivia and Virtual Escape Rooms) and quarterly council meetings to informative and thought-provoking events (such as the section’s annual CLE program Back to the Future: In-House Practice in a Post-Pandemic World, the always popular Thought Leadership event It Takes More than the GC to Make the World Go ‘Round and the Secretary of State Update), we had a jam-packed year. I was happy to interact with so many of our members throughout the year – it is always time well spent.

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How Expansively Is The Economic Loss Rule Being Applied Post-Crescent?

Matt Bouchard is a man with brown hair with blue eyes. He is wearing a light blue shirt and a red tie. He is pictured smiling and standing in front of a glass building.By Matt Bouchard

When Crescent University City Venture, LLC v. Trussway Manufacturing, Inc., 376 N.C. 54, 852 S.E.2d 98 (2020) was released in December 2020, the decision left some ambiguity about the scope of its intended reach. On the one hand, the North Carolina Supreme Court in Crescent reiterated that the purpose of the economic loss rule was to “prevent contract law from drowning in a sea of tort;” that the rule bars recovery in tort for the simple failure of a defendant to perform its contract; and that where a plaintiff has a bargained-for remedy, it must look solely to contract law when seeking recovery for purely economic losses. On the other hand, the Court more broadly concluded that “North Carolina’s state courts have consistently applied the economic loss rule to hold that purely economic losses are not recoverable under tort law, particularly in the context of commercial transactions.” That language arguably suggests a potentially more expansive application of the economic loss rule, one not dependent upon the existence or non-existence of a bargained-for exchange between the adversaries.

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Making Attorney Self-Care an Atomic Habit

Ashley Banks is a young woman with golden brown hair and brown eyes. She is pictured smiling against a black background, and she is wearing a red shirt and a black blazer. By Ashley Banks

As legal professionals, we dedicate significant time and energy to improving our practice, our knowledge, our business. But how much time do we devote to improving the way we care for ourselves? When is the last time you reviewed your self-care routine, implemented new self-care strategies, or set time aside for self-care planning? If you’re like me, your self-care routine may benefit from a well-designed system — James Clear’s Atomic Habits system.

Self-Care is Key for Legal Professionals, But it is Not Our Forte

As advocates serving others in a myriad of ways, our profession is notorious for disregarding the well-established principle of “fitting our own oxygen mask first.” But, it’s because we are advocates serving others in a myriad of ways that fitting our own oxygen mask first is so critical.

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NCBA Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Section: 2021-2022 Year In Review

By Amy P. Wang, Outgoing Section ChairAmy Wang is a woman with shoulder-length blond hair. She is wearing a blue shirt with a dark grey jacket, and she is standing outside with green foliage behind her.

I am honored to have served as the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources (EENR) Section Chair for 2021-2022. As we are set to begin anew next month, it’s important that we reflect on the past year and the challenges we faced as a Section.

An uptick in COVID-19 cases forced us to reinstitute various protective protocols among our members’ institutions and the North Carolina Bar Association. As a result, our meetings in August, November, January, and May were held virtually. I am proud of the way our Section adapted and continued to provide valuable content and programming to our members. Our meetings included many excellent substantive committee reports. We also benefitted from presentations by Dionne Delli-Gatti, Clean Energy Director for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), with an overview and update on various energy and climate issues at the global, federal, and state levels; Peter Ledford and Christina Cress spoke about the clean energy stakeholder process surrounding the passage of House Bill 951; and Dru Carlisle and Steven DeGeorge provided a primer on environmental insurance. Thank you to the Programs Committee, Hayes Finely, Robin Smith, and Joe Starr, for their efforts.

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Learning to Say No (Professionally)

BKatie Riddle is a young woman with blond hair and grey eyes. She is pictured smiling and wearing a blue shirt, and she is standing against a light background.y Katie Riddle

Why does the word “no,” a two-letter, concise word, carry such a heavy weight when used in a professional setting?

I think of the use of the word “no” in my personal life. My husband may ask if we should have dinner at one restaurant, and I am not anxious or worried when I respond “no, I would prefer eating at this particular restaurant.” Or I think of the times when I have to say no to my sweet dogs that are just begging for their fifth treat for the day. So why is it so hard to use the word “no” professionally?

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Checking In: June 28, 2022

Compiled by Jessica Junqueira

Anderton Joins The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin

Bradley Anderton is a young man with dark brown hair and a beard. He is wearing black glasses and a white shirt with a black blazer and a grey tie. He is pictured smiling and stands against a grey background. Bradley Anderton has joined the firm. He has prior experience serving as the Assistant District Attorney of the 15th Prosecutorial District of North Carolina. He holds a J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law. There, he was a recipient of the Gressman-Pollitt Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy. In his role as a Juvenile Justice Clinic student attorney, he volunteered over 100 hours. Anderton also holds a Bachelor of Science in economics, summa cum laude, from North Carolina State University, where he was a part of the Honors Program.

 

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Annual Meeting Report from the Real Property Section Chair

Christina Pearsall is a woman with wavy light brown, shoulder-length hair. She is wearing a bright blue shirt and a black blazer. She is standing outside and in front of green trees and a blue sky.By Christina Freeman Pearsall

Dear Real Property Section:

We had a wonderful time in Asheville at our Real Property Section Annual Meeting and CLE! It was our first in-person meeting in two years! If you weren’t able to join us – we missed you! Please plan to attend next year.

As we always do, we had our last Real Property Section Council meeting on May 19, 2022, while we were in Asheville. Below is a summary of the Council’s activities since our February meeting.

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It’s Not Goodbye, Just See You Later – 2021-22 NCBA Small Firm & Technology Section Wrap-Up

Alicia Lewis is a young woman with blond hair. She is pictured in a sleeveless grey cowl turtleneck. She stands in front of a grey bookshelf with a blurred background.

By Alicia W. Lewis

Attorneys and legal professionals in solo and small firms are some of the hardest working individuals in the industry. No matter your practice area, you juggle your caseload and clients, run a business behind the scenes, volunteer for professional and pro bono causes, hopefully throw in some exercise or time for mindfulness, and then there is the thing we call “life” you try to insert into the “work-life” equation. It can be overwhelming and not an easy thing to accomplish, but the members of this section rise to the challenge day in and day out to provide top-notch legal services to our communities. Read more

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