http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-19T18:31:50-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/booted_from_bench_over_refusal_to_give_up_board_seat_ex-judge_is_now_accuse/ A former North Carolina judge who gave up his seat on the bench in 2009 in the midst of an investigation over his continued membership on a corporate board and other issues is now facing a legal ethics case over accusations that he lied during the probe. Bill Belk, who… Judiciary, Legal Ethics, States, North Carolina Tue, 14 May 2013 12:52:04 -0500 44174.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/4th_circuit/ A federal appeals court has reinstated the conviction of a North Carolina real estate closing attorney who faces a sentence of up to 25 years in a mortgage-fraud case. Convicted for her role in closing 210 transactions between 2000 and 2004, for which she received $235,000 in attorney fees, Victoria… Bankruptcy Law, Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Real Estate & Property Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 4th Circuit Court, States, North Carolina Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:04:05 -0500 43661.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/bar_complaint_says_matrimonial_lawyer_made_false_statements_in_lawsuit_agai/ In a disciplinary complaint filed on Valentine's Day, the North Carolina State Bar charges a matrimonial lawyer with bringing a baseless lawsuit. After being named as a defendant in an alienation of affections complaint filed by the husband of a former client, attorney David Shawn Clark subsequently filed suit himself… Criminal Justice, Family Law, Legal Ethics, States, North Carolina Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:50:54 -0600 42983.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/law_firm_fire_insurance_probe_leads_to_theft_charges_against_2_legal_secret/ Two employees of a small North Carolina law firm are facing criminal charges, after an insurance investigation of a January 2012 fire there uncovered evidence of alleged thefts from their employer. Kelly Renee Jones was charged Monday with 19 counts of larceny by employee, and Jacqualynn Donna Stroud was charged… Criminal Justice, States, North Carolina Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:37:53 -0600 42278.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/top_nc_court_to_decide_did_lack_of_30_fishing_license_preclude_910k_award/ A monster catch in a North Carolina fishing contest has turned into a major legal case for the owners of the boat on which it was caught. The celebration aboard the charter boat Citation in June 2010, when an 883-pound blue marlin was hauled aboard after a five-hour battle, soon… Admiralty & Maritime Law, Contracts, Trials & Litigation, States, North Carolina Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:45:29 -0600 42262.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/victims_brother_shouts_at_judge_who_overturns_three_death_sentences_for_rac/ A North Carolina judge reduced three death sentences to life in prison on Thursday, spurring an outburst by a brother of one of the victims, a slain state trooper. Judge Gregory Weeks of Cumberland County cited racial bias in sentencing and voided the death sentences under the state’s revised Racial… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Criminal Procedure, States, North Carolina Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:39:47 -0600 42047.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_takes_plea_gives_up_law_license_records_showed_he_charged_extra_for_/ A North Carolina lawyer had initially intended to fight a criminal obstruction of justice case over the work he did for clients charged with driving while intoxicated. But after counsel for James Crouch, 46, found out last week that he had altered law office paperwork, after he was criminally charged,… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Judiciary, Law Firms, Partners, Solos/Small Firms, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, North Carolina Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:59:15 -0600 41634.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_halts_possum_drop_cites_patrick_henry/ A North Carolina judge has halted the traditional New Year’s Eve Possum drop in the town of Brasstown, saying the state didn’t have the authority to issue a permit for the event. Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison Jr. said the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission didn’t have the authority to… Animal Law, States, North Carolina Wed, 14 Nov 2012 09:29:17 -0600 41630.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/former_office_manager_repays_350k_to_nc_law_firm1/ A former office manager who has repaid $350,000 to the Raleigh law firm at which she once worked is being held at a North Carolina jail on felony embezzlement charges after turning herself in on Friday. Susan Rouse, 64, is suspected of stealing from Nicholls & Crampton between 2003 and… Business of Law, Criminal Justice, Law Firms, States, North Carolina Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:05:58 -0600 41606.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/rare_sex-crimes_case_re_us_general_may_be_derailed_by_prosecutions_access/ Just as an Article 32 military hearing was about to get under way concerning evidence that could be used in an unusual criminal case against a U.S. Army general concerning his sexual conduct with subordinates at American military bases and abroad, a major issue has come to light. Contrary to… Constitutional Law, Military Law, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, North Carolina Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:33:16 -0600 41484.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/heirs_of_early_supreme_court_justice_win_legal_fight_for_his_papers/ Heirs of a justice appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by George Washington are entitled to his papers, according to a ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court. A descendant had loaned the papers of Justice James Iredell Sr. to the North Carolina Historical Commission in 1910, the Legal History, Trials & Litigation, Trusts & Estates, U.S. Supreme Court, States, North Carolina Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:45:33 -0500 40996.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/at_hearing_as_fatal_vision/ Still fighting his 1979 conviction for murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters in their Fort Bragg, N.C., home 42 years ago, a former U.S. Army physician who became a household name is once again in the headlines as witnesses testify about evidence and legal counsel in the notorious… Appellate Practice, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Legal History, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Verdicts & Settlements, 4th Circuit Court, States, North Carolina Mon, 24 Sep 2012 15:52:58 -0500 40851.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/nc_judge_is_cleared_of_misconduct_accusations_made_by_deposed_durham_da/ A North Carolina judge has been cleared by the state's Judicial Standards Commission of accusations of misconduct made by a former Durham district attorney. Durham Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson released Tuesday a copy of the letter sent to him by the commission after its determination Friday that there was… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, States, North Carolina Tue, 18 Sep 2012 15:40:35 -0500 40773.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/elon_law_school_to_open_elder_law_clinic/ Elon University School of Law announced this week that it plans to open a student-staffed Elder Law Clinic this fall and will begin reviewing cases Wednesday. The clinic will provide free legal counsel to low and moderate-income area residents aged 60 and over, according to a post on the Elder Law, Law Schools, Law Students, States, North Carolina Wed, 15 Aug 2012 10:55:07 -0500 40240.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/food_blogger_sues_says_nc_license_requirement_violates_his_1st_amendment/ Steve Cooksey enjoyed giving advice as a nutrition blogger, until the state of North Carolina got into the picture. By telling others what to eat on his Diabetes Warrior blog, he was breaking a criminal law that requires providers of "nutrition care services” to be licensed, he… Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Consumer Law, Internet Law, Media & Communications Law, Trials & Litigation, 4th Circuit Court, States, North Carolina Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:51:13 -0500 40070.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-judge_pleads_to_misdemeanor_in_criminal_case_over_altered_conviction_dat/ A former North Carolina judge tearfully took a misdemeanor plea Monday in a controversial case involving altered conviction dates in drunk-driving cases heard before other judges. Kristin Ruth, 55, said she had been too trusting of a defense attorney she has known since they were classmates at Campbell University's law… Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, White Collar Crime, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, States, North Carolina Tue, 31 Jul 2012 17:12:41 -0500 39945.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_facing_client-fund_claims_is_now_jailed_in_auto-theft_case/ It's been a bad year for Nicholas Andrew Stratas Jr., and things apparently aren't getting any better for the North Carolina attorney. Already facing criminal charges and an attorney disciplinary case concerning his claimed mishandling of client money, the 54-year-old Raleigh practitioner is now being held without bail at the… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Legal Ethics, States, North Carolina Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:03:11 -0500 39800.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/n.c._lawmakers_rewrite_law_that_had_allowed_bias_statistics_to_negate_death/ North Carolina lawmakers have overridden a gubernatorial veto and rewritten a law that had allowed death-row inmates to use racial-bias statistics to get a reduced sentence of life without parole. The new law still allows capital defendants to offer statistics to show their trials were tainted by bias, but they… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, States, North Carolina Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:09:02 -0500 39533.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/colleagues_gather_to_support_indicted_nc_criminal_defense_lawyer_as_he_turn/ A North Carolina criminal defense lawyer indicted along with a former Wake County judge and a legal assistant in an unusual case based on the alleged alteration of court documents in driving-while-intoxicated cases wasn't alone Wednesday when he turned himself in About half a dozen colleagues gathered at the Public… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, States, North Carolina Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:48:52 -0500 39468.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/former_nc_judge_defense_lawyer_and_legal_assistant_indicted_re_courts_handl/ A former North Carolina judge, a defense attorney and an assistant to the lawyer have been indicted by a Wake County grand jury in a case related to the judge's handling of up to a dozen or more driving while intoxicated cases. Kristin Ruth, who served as a Wake County… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Criminal Procedure, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, States, North Carolina Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:11:57 -0500 39452.abajournal.com