It’s Just Business

Analysis of North Carolina Business Court Decisions (and other musings)

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By: Fox Rothschild LLP

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Lisa W. Arthur
Matthew Krueger-Andes
Matthew Nis Leerberg
Kip D. Nelson
Whit Pierce
Bradley M. Risinger
Troy Shelton
Jeffrey R. Whitley

Latest from It’s Just Business

N.C. Business Court Holds that (Federal) Dividends Received Deduction Must Offset (State) Net Economic Loss Tax Deduction In N.C. Dep’t of Revenue v. Graybar Elec. Co., Inc., 2019 NCBC 2 (N.C. Super. Ct. Jan. 9, 2019), the Business Court addressed the interplay between the federal dividends received deduction and the (now repealed) North Carolina net economic loss deduction. The issue, in particular, was whether the respondent corporation was required to reduce its North Carolina net…
N.C. Business Court Dismisses Inadequately Pled Retaliation and Wrongful Discharge Claims. In Michael J. Kelley v. Charlotte Radiology, P.A., 2019 NCBC 14 (N.C. Super Feb. 27, 2019), Judge Conrad granted a motion to dismiss claims alleging wrongful discharge and a violation of the Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA). The case involved a dispute between a radiologist and a Charlotte-based physician practice in which he had been a shareholder. The wind-down of their relationship, which commenced…
N.C. Business Court Dismisses a Motion to Enforce Mediated Settlement Agreement After a Protracted Struggle Among Owners In Local Social, Inc. v. Stallings, 2019 NCBC 8 (N.C. Super. Ct. Jan. 30, 2019), Judge Robinson granted the Plaintiffs’ Motion to Dismiss the Defendant’s Motion to Enforce the Mediated Settlement Agreement for lack of subject matter jurisdiction based on the doctrine of mootness. The current conflict grew out of several prior disputes between 50/50 owners of Plaintiff…
Business Court Sanctions Party for Discovery Misconduct and Awards Forensic Examination It started out like a typical Business Court case:  a company filed suit against its former employees (and their new company) and asserted claims for things like breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.  The plaintiff also filed motions for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, and it sought expedited discovery to support the claims for injunctive relief. But from there,…
The Business Court considers a variety of claims arising out of a family campground business in Bohn v. Black, 2019 NCBC 34. The Black Forest Family Camping Resort, Inc., a family business, was supposed to be a place where campers in Transylvania County could come to spend time with their families. It operated for over 20 years until one day the Black Family experienced a rift, causing the filing of this lawsuit in the North…
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N.C. Business Court Grants a Stay Pending Appeal, but Isn’t Convinced it Will Matter.   In Vizant Technologies, LLC v. YRC Worldwide Inc., 2019 NCBC 15 (N.C. Super Mar. 1, 2019), Judge Bledsoe granted a motion for stay pending appeal of an interlocutory order under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-294 after identifying an infrequently sighted legal bird: a substantial right that will be adversely affected.  See Order and Opinion.  A party’s first sign that the…
When one business buys another business, the buyer might assume that it’s just stepping into the shoes of the purchased entity, especially as to employees that stay on. But a recent opinion from Judge Conrad reminds employers that this isn’t always the case. To play it safe, a successor business needs to have retained employees sign new employment agreements. In Addison Whitney, LLC v. Cashion, the successor business didn’t play it safe. Employees had…
In a much-watched case, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Business Court in Sykes v. Health Network Solutions. The case was being watched mostly for its analysis of pure, state-law antitrust claims, but the Court evenly divided on that issue, leaving the Business Court’s dismissal standing. In exchange for that disappointment, the Court offered a surprise: its first foray into the learned-profession exemption in section 75-1.1. You can check out more analysis…
N.C. Supreme Court Amends N.C. Business Court Rules. On June 11th, the Supreme Court of North Carolina issued an Order Amending the Rules of the N.C. Business Court pursuant to its supplemental rule-making authority under N.C.G.S. § 7A-34.  See Order Amending the North Carolina Business Court Rules.  The Business Court Rules govern all civil actions designated as mandatory complex business cases and those cases assigned to a Business Court Judge under Rule 2.1 of the General Rules…
N.C. Business Court weighs in on a breach of contract action involving a wine bottle opener manufacturer and alleged counterfeiters. How does one open a wine bottle clogged by an old half-crumbled cork? Plaintiff may have the solution, but since we’re in the business court, there is obviously a snag. In Wining Taylors, LLC v. CE Precision, Inc. and Yuan Wang, 2019 NCBC 25 (N.C. Super. Ct. Apr. 5, 2019), Judge Conrad granted plaintiff’s summary judgment…