Normally, an appellate court will “limit appellate review to issues raised by the parties because those legal issues are joined after full adversarial briefing.” The Supreme Court of North Carolina has cautioned that “[a]ddressing issues that the parties never raised, preserved, and asserted on appeal is harmful for several reasons.” One of those reasons is
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State Budget Ushers In Modest Appellate Changes
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
Appellate Judges Education Institute 2026
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
The Right Way to Writ
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
Annual Appellate CLE: Tips from the Bench
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
Alternatives to Horizontal Stare Decisis
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
We need to talk about… In re Civil Penalty (again)
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
Hitting the Ground Running: North Carolina Supreme Court Scheduling Oral Arguments Earlier Than You Might Expect
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
Complicated: Premature Oral Notices of Appeal & Writs of Certiorari
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
We Are One Step Closer to an En Banc Rehearing in the North Carolina Court of Appeals
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