Yes, they make many people cry. Like ogres in the movie Shrek, laws are like onions because they have layers. In order to fully understand how laws are interpreted, you have to understand the layers. Federalist System of Laws Our country is a federalist system of governance. This means that there is a Federal […]
How Do Money Judgments Work?
The most common type of judgment is a money judgment. These are judgments ordering one party to pay another. If you win a judgment, it is valid for ten years in North Carolina. Before the end of that ten-year period, however, you may ask the court to extend the judgment. How Do Money Judgments […]
What is Tortious Interference with a Contract
Tortious Interference with a Contract is one of those causes of action that sounds scarier than it really is. In its simplest terms, tortious interference occurs when you encourage someone to break the contract they have with someone else. As this is law, there are also exceptions to that rule. A simple example is when […]
Attorney’s Fees
For smaller lawsuits, there is one type of award that can change the outcome of your case. Prevailing parties can sometimes get the losing party to pay attorney’s fees. The decision to award these fees is often in the discretion of the presiding judge. However, it helps to know when you could have the losing […]
Default Judgment
Lawsuits aren’t fun. Few people want to sue, and even fewer want to be sued. However, every day a plaintiff files a new suit against a defendant, and that defendant generally has 30 days from being served to answer. In a perfect world, every defendant will timely respond to the plaintiff’s complaint. In reality, things […]
Fraudulent Transfers
Fraudulent transfers are one way in which creditors can set aside a transfer by a debtor to another person or entity. They occur when the debtor either makes a transfer of assets with the intent to defraud his or her creditors or, in some states, when a debtor makes a transfer while insolvent or when […]
What is a Demand Letter?
What is a Demand Letter, and what’s it used for? A demand letter is a tool used prior to litigation to demand that a certain outcome be obtained from an opposing party or else a lawsuit will be filed against them. Your demands can be for money or for some sort of action. If you’re […]
Serving Lawsuits on Hard to Find Companies
Typically, when you want to sue a registered company in North Carolina, you would file the lawsuit and serve the summons and complaint upon the registered agent, but things don’t always work out the way they’re supposed to. A registered agent is a person or company assigned to accept service of process on a […]
Negligence in North Carolina
Negligence. You may be familiar with the term, but do you actually know what it means? Unless you are an attorney or have been involved in litigation alleging negligence, probably not. Simply put, a suit claiming negligence asks the court to rule that the defendant breached a duty of care that they owed you, and […]
Statute of Limitations and Debt Collection
The general concept of a statute of limitations is well known to the public. Most people are aware that there is a set time period after the occurrence of an injury during which you can file a lawsuit against a person for recovery of damages from that injury. The same goes for prosecution of criminal […]
Judgment Creditors and Bankruptcy
So you’ve won your day in court and obtained a money judgment against a defendant. You’ve called the local sheriff and begun an execution of your judgment in order to secure payment of your debt. Just as you begin to think of how much you can collect, you find out that the defendant has filed […]
Arbitration: It’s Not Just For Banks
Have you ever read through your credit card agreements? Have you truly read through each clause? You probably haven’t read them, unless you’re the rare exception or an attorney who gets paid to do so. Most of these agreements include arbitration agreements, where you agree, by opening the account, to resolve any issues by arbitration […]