North Carolina

Disbarred Prosecutor’s Guitars Sold at Auction

Three guitars owned by the disbarred prosecutor in the Duke University lacrosse case were sold at a bankruptcy auction for $5,100. Former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong filed for bankruptcy in January after he was sued for malicious prosecution by three lacrosse players who had been wrongfully accused of…

Oct 14, 2008 12:31 PM CDT

As Students Head Back to School, Lawyers Head Back to Court

As students start another school year, litigation over their education is on a number of minds. In Chicago, as many as 2,000 predominantly minority students are boycotting the first day of school today and taking special buses to public schools in the upscale suburb of Winnetka, in support of efforts…

Sep 2, 2008 3:20 PM CDT

Lawyers for Edwards’ Mistress and Campaign Aide Tied to Fred Baron

Lawyers for John Edwards’ mistress and the man who says he is the father of her child both have ties to the Dallas trial lawyer who was chairman of the presidential candidate’s campaign finance committee. The committee chairman, Dallas trial lawyer Fred Baron, has said he paid to relocate Rielle…

Aug 15, 2008 10:48 AM CDT

Law School Defers Tuition for Students Who Can’t Get Loans

Charlotte School of Law is a for-profit institution. But the school says it will defer fall tuition and fees for about 35 students who can’t get loans because of the turmoil in the nation’s economy. It will have a total of about 300 students when its third class starts this…

Aug 6, 2008 11:02 PM CDT

Lawyer Drops Suit Against Paper for Cutting Staff, Devaluing Subscription

A North Carolina lawyer who sued the News & Observer for cutting staff has dropped his lawsuit. Durham lawyer Keith Hempstead said he abandoned his suit after achieving one of his goals—to get the news industry’s attention, the News & Observer reports. He had voiced his concerns about newsroom layoffs…

Jul 29, 2008 12:54 PM CDT

Ga. Woman, 76, Investigated in Deaths of 4 Husbands, 1 Child

A North Carolina judge has declined to reduce the $500,000 bail for a 76-year-old Georgia woman accused of hiring a hit man to kill her fourth husband. Meanwhile, as Betty Neumar sits in a North Carolina jail awaiting trial, authorities are reinvestigating the deaths of three more of her five…

Jul 14, 2008 6:46 PM CDT

Lawyer Sues Newspaper for Cutting Staff, Devaluing His Subscription

A North Carolina lawyer has sued the News & Observer for cutting staff and news pages after he renewed his subscription to the Raleigh newspaper. Keith Hempstead, a Durham lawyer who is a former reporter for the Fayetteville Observer, claims the cuts breached his contract with the newspaper and amounted…

Jul 11, 2008 12:54 PM CDT

K&L Gates, Kennedy Covington Approve Merger

Partners at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis and Charlotte, N.C.-based Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman have approved a planned merger that will be effective July 1. The two law firms noted that Charlotte is the second-largest financial center in the country and said the merger will benefit both firms,…

Jun 24, 2008 10:33 AM CDT

K&L Gates Eyes Kennedy Covington

K&L Gates is talking with Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, a 175-attorney business and real estate law firm in North Carolina. The Kennedy firm could join with 1,500-lawyer Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis by July 1 if all goes well, according to a joint press release. Together, the two…

Jun 20, 2008 3:54 PM CDT

Dean Complains About ‘Glut of Law Schools’

News that the ABA has accredited 200 law schools raises issues about whether “more is better,” according to an Associated Press news analysis. The story reports that the number of students enrolled in law school is at an all-time high, even as jobs can be difficult to find. Said Makau…

Jun 17, 2008 3:11 PM CDT

Wife Charged in Man’s ‘86 Death; What About Her 4 Other Husbands?

After years of nagging by nagging by Al Gentry, authorities in North Carolina agreed to take another look at the 1986 cold-case shooting death of his brother, Harold. And when they did, they arrested the person Al Gentry had suspected all along: Harold’s wife, Betty Neumar, who is now 76,…

Jun 13, 2008 10:39 PM CDT

N.C. Judge Sanctioned for Four-Year Delay in Written Judgment

A North Carolina judge has been reprimanded for failing to issue a written judgment nearly four years after holding a bench trial. Judge Henry Frye Jr. of Guilford County finally issued the judgment a week after receiving the reprimand from the Judicial Standards Commission, the News-Record of Greensboro reports. The…

Jun 12, 2008 12:36 PM CDT

Jurors ‘Haunted’ By Time in Courtroom

North Carolina is considering allowing jurors access to counseling services to cope with post-traumatic stress that can occur after exposure to graphic images and disturbing testimony during a trial. In a report by WECT TV6 in Wilmington, one juror shares his experiences grappling with a capital case involving the murder…

May 16, 2008 2:27 PM CDT

Lingering Questions Surround Death Penalty Representation

An ACLU lawyer tells the New York Times that the problem with the death penalty is not the method of execution, but rather “poor people getting lousy lawyers.” The ACLU Capital Punishment Project represented North Carolina inmate Levon Jones, the third death row inmate in the state to win his…

May 7, 2008 2:49 PM CDT

Trial Allowed in Suit By Woman Banned for ‘Dirty Dancing’

A federal appeals court has ruled that a North Carolina woman may sue a municipality for permanently banning her from town dances. Marshall, N.C., officials permanently banned Rebecca Willis from the town’s community center in December 2000, citing her provocative dancing at the Friday night dances held there. Willis, now…

May 2, 2008 3:26 PM CDT