Governor Stein signed a state budget into law today, triggering happy headlines about teacher pay and investments in community colleges, amidst debates over a number of other provisions. Tweaks to our appellate system tend not to make the front page, but there is at least one thing worth noting.
Borrowing a page from the business
Registration for the best national appellate CLE program is now open.
Here’s the link: https://judges.org/appellate judges edu/about-ajei. You need to be there.
The AJEI Summit will be held November 12-15, 2026, in Philadelphia.
Speakers and presenters include Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, Akhil Amar, Judge Diane Wood, Jeffrey Rosen, Judge Margaret McKeown, and Jonathan Turley. They will
Petitions for a writ of certiorari, particularly in criminal cases, are no stranger to this blog. But this week’s opinions from the Court of Appeals include a case that is worth discussing.
State v. Dade concerned North Carolina’s implied-consent offenses such as impaired driving. If a defendant in such a case files a motion to
North Carolina’s appellate lawyers enjoyed an hour chock-full of insights from Justice Dietz and Chief Judge Dillon this morning during the NCBA’s annual appellate-practice CLE. Did you miss it? Here are some highlights.
Motions to Dismiss Appeals
Both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals are open to motions to dismiss appeals for
Suppose the Supreme Court of North Carolina jettisoned In re Civil Penalty—the case requiring panels of the Court of Appeals to treat earlier Court of Appeals panel opinions as binding precedent. What system would take its place?
This is no mere hypothetical. As my colleague Morgan Reece pointed out last week, at least
On March 20, the Supreme Court issued an opinion in In re N.M.W., No. 159PA25, 2026 WL 796105 (N.C. Mar. 20, 2026). But as many of you know, I’m not here to discuss the holding or outcome of that case. I want to talk about Justice Berger’s concurrence.
Background first. Readers of this blog will
North Carolina appellate practitioners may want to sit down before reading this. Actually, maybe stand up—because you might need to spring into action sooner than you think.
The North Carolina Supreme Court appears to be running a tighter schedule for briefing and calendaring cases for oral argument. In some cases, the Court has issued oral
Sometimes you fall headlong into a chorus you thought you knew by heart—only to discover the bridge is where all the action is. For appellate practitioners, that action seems to be happening more and more in orders issued by the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The latest big order highlights how trial attorneys in criminal
As I forecasted two weeks ago, the State v. Hardaway case could present a clean opportunity for the North Carolina Court of Appeals to hold its first-ever en banc (re)hearing. Yesterday, we took a step closer to having that become a reality, as the defendant has now moved for rehearing en banc and for a
Yesterday, I posted on the State v. Hardaway case and the use of a “concurrence dubitante” by Judge Hampson to flag his concerns with the binding holding of the earlier-decided State v. Jenkins case.
Having thought a bit more about the cases, I think this dispute has as good a chance as any to lead