North Carolina

Ex-prosecutor indicted over alleged text offer to pay $20K to get opponent to exit judicial campaign

A now-former longtime prosecutor in Davidson County, North Carolina, was indicted Tuesday, accused of texting an offer to pay $20,000 to get an opponent to drop out of an election for a superior court seat. Wendy Joyce Terry, 43, was placed on administrative leave after the alleged July 23 incident…

Sep 9, 2015 5:15 PM CDT

Inmate offers to be a bone marrow donor for judge who put him in jail while a prosecutor

A North Carolina inmate says he has no ill will toward the district attorney who helped put him in jail. The inmate, Charles Alston, is serving a 25-year sentence for armed robbery. In a letter to the former prosecutor, who is now a judge in Chapel Hill, Alston says he…

Sep 4, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Clawback suit seeks $420K from US transportation secretary concerning in-house counsel pay

A trustee in a corporate bankruptcy case is seeking $420,000 from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx. The clawback suit was filed Friday by trustee Elaine Rudisill in federal bankruptcy court in Charlotte, North Carolina. The suit claims that Foxx, while serving as mayor of Charlotte, also held a job…

Aug 13, 2015 12:40 PM CDT

Disbarred attorney charged with using another lawyer’s name in traffic-court case

A disbarred North Carolina attorney was charged with criminal contempt and is being held in lieu of $300,000 bond after allegedly using the name of another state lawyer while representing a client in a traffic court hearing. Court officials in Columbus County Superior Court didn’t recognize Nicholas Andrew Stratas, 57,…

Jul 29, 2015 1:35 PM CDT

Document review arguably ‘devoid of legal judgment,’ 2nd Circuit says, allowing wage suit to proceed

A trial judge erred in dismissing a BigLaw document reviewer’s lawsuit seeking overtime pay, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. Accepting plaintiff David Lola’s allegations as true for the purpose of deciding a motion to dismiss, the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said his claim that his…

Jul 23, 2015 12:45 PM CDT

Two months after his arrest, Cadwalader partner is no longer with the law firm

A partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft who was arrested two months ago on misdemeanor charges is no longer with the law firm. Robert Ughetta was arrested in May by police in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to prior stories by the…

Jul 21, 2015 7:53 AM CDT

Man with Voodoo beads is ordered detained for refusing to remove them in court

A defendant appearing before a North Carolina judge was detained for nearly three hours last week when he refused to remove his Voodoo beads or tuck them into his shirt during a court appearance. The defendant, Abu-Bakr Abdur Rahman of Fayetteville, says he believes Judge Talmage Baggett of Cumberland County…

Jul 17, 2015 7:54 AM CDT

Should Confederate flag be displayed? ABA president, state officials, stores take a stand against it

A call Monday by South Carolina’s governor for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the state capitol grounds was swiftly followed by announcements from additional states, major retailers and at least one flag manufacturer that they, too, are taking action to limit the flag’s display. Considered by some…

Jun 24, 2015 10:22 AM CDT

Law school could lose $3M in funding; are lawmakers penalizing outspoken prof?

The University of North Carolina School of Law could lose $3 million in state funding—amounting to more than 10 percent of its budget—as a result of a proposal by a Republican state senator. The North Carolina Senate last week passed the budget cut proposed by State Sen. Tom Apodaca and…

Jun 24, 2015 9:30 AM CDT

Gay marriages are targeted in new North Carolina opt-out law for magistrates, other officials

Some court officials in North Carolina can refuse to perform marriages based on a sincerely held religious objection, according to a new law passed on Thursday. The North Carolina House voted to override the governor’s veto of the measure on Thursday, following a June 1 vote by the Senate, report…

Jun 12, 2015 7:18 AM CDT

LegalZoom files $10.5M antitrust suit against North Carolina bar, cites SCOTUS dental case

LegalZoom is citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on teeth whitening in a $10.5 million antitrust suit against the North Carolina State Bar. The suit (PDF), filed on June 3 in federal court in North Carolina, claims the bar is unreasonably barring LegalZoom from offering a prepaid legal services…

Jun 5, 2015 7:11 AM CDT

Surreptitious collection of DNA from water bottle lands lawyer for exonerated inmate in hot water

An ethics complaint accuses the executive director of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence of trying to exonerate a client by surreptitiously collecting DNA from a water bottle. The lawyer, Chris Mumma, “has received many accolades as a champion for the falsely accused,” the News & Observer reports. But…

May 14, 2015 9:39 AM CDT

Police officer sues Starbucks after being burned by cup of free coffee; jury awards nothing

A Raleigh police officer and his wife had hoped to get $750,000 in damages after a free cup of Starbucks coffee spilled in his lap and burned his inner thigh. But a North Carolina jury on Monday awarded Lt. Matthew Kohr nothing, finding that the company is not liable for…

May 11, 2015 11:05 AM CDT

Ex-CIA chief David Petraeus gets probation, is fined $100K for giving classified info to biographer

Once a highly regarded military leader in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, retired four-star general David Petraeus on Thursday was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine for revealing classified information to his biographer and then-lover, Paula Broadwell. The fine imposed by a federal…

Apr 23, 2015 3:40 PM CDT

For the second month in a row, Polsinelli hires a health-care team to open a new office

For the second time in a month, a nearly 750-attorney law firm has announced that it is opening a new office. This time, Polsinelli is landing in Nashville, where a former partner and senior associate from Frost Brown Todd who specialize in health care will be opening the doors to…

Apr 14, 2015 3:45 PM CDT