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 Whether it be an auto accident, slip and fall, dog bite, medical malpractice or other type of injury claim, in North Carolina the Plaintiff's Attorney may not mention that the Defendant may have insurance policy covering the claim at trial. While the "real" defendant in most injury claims is an insurance company, the case caption will name the policy holder instead of the insurance company. Prior to trial, the Plaintiff's Attorney will deal almost exclusively with the insurance company of the Defendant in attempts to settle the case.  https://askcompetentlawyer.com/  Insurance adjusters, rather than the named Defendant, will be making decisions as to whether to go to trial or settle a valid injury claim. Despite the involvement of the insurance company pretrial, juries are often completely unaware of the presence of insurance. North Carolina G.S § 8C-1, Rule 411 states: "Evidence that a person was or was not insured against liability is not admissible upon the i

 The formula for Coca-Cola has long been considered the ultimate trade secret. While Coca-Cola could have chosen to patent the formula they use for their product, that protection would only have lasted twenty years and generic coke would currently be undercutting their product. Instead of using the patent process, Coca-Cola took the more difficult, but potentially longer lasting route in protecting their intellectual property by protecting the formula as a proprietary trade secret. A trade secret is defined in North Carolina, as business or technical information, including but not limited to a formula, pattern, program, device, compilation of information, method, technique, or process that: a. Derives independent actual or potential commercial value from not being known or readily ascertainable through independent development or reverse engineering by persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and b. Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circums

 This is the first entry in a four-part series giving educational information on House Bill 813 which is being debated this session on the North Carolina Senate floor. This article gives a short overview about what House Bill 813 is all about. Once a week over the next three weeks, a new entry will be posted about the bill discussing different aspects of its content. House Bill 813 is a proposed enactment that will transition North Carolina into a comparative fault jurisdiction, bringing us into the company of 46 other states who already have some form of comparative fault in place. The only other jurisdictions that currently operate under a contributory negligence regime are Virginia, Alabama, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Comparative fault allocates responsibility among the parties liable in a case involving injury. This is different from our current system where it stands that if person is the slightest bit at fault in an accident (even 1%), he or she cannot recover any da

 The most important thing that people want to know about the new comparative fault law is whether it will drive up automobile insurance rates for drivers. North Carolina senators requested a reliable breakdown of the issues to determine the effect that implementing this new law would have on insurance premiums for the citizens of North Carolina. In response, the North Carolina Advocates for Justice hired an independent firm, Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, which specializes in analyzing the insurance industry to study other jurisdictions that have made the switch from contributory negligence to comparative fault. The study was done in the contiguous comparative negligence states of South Carolina and Tennessee. The data indicated that switching from contributory negligence to comparative fault did not result in any substantial increase in insurance rates.  https://askcompetentlawyer.com/  In fact, the study suggested that since those states switched to comparative fault, North Carolina a

 House Bill 813, like most pieces of legislation, has both proponents and opponents. Mainly, the proponents of the bill are those who are in the legal profession, due to the fact that comparative fault is a system more in line with justice since it allocates fault among those who are responsible. The opponents, being mainly the insurance companies take their position because, according to them, switching to a comparative negligence state would mean more pay-outs to claimants. Because there are two groups with opposite, but legitimate, goals, compromises have to be made to satisfy both groups. One compromise that the state legislature has made to insurance company lobbying is adopting a modified version of comparative fault where a plaintiff is barred from recovery if her fault exceeds a certain threshold. The North Carolina House of Representatives decided to adopt an amendment to House Bill 813 which states that where a party contributes equal to or greater than the combined responsib

 Many people often call our office unsure as to what their rights are after they have been let go from a job. Often people do not understand why they have been let go, and feel that because there was no specific reason for their discharge they have a case. Unfortunately this is untrue in North Carolina. North Carolina is what we call an "Employment-at-Will" state. The term "Employment-at-Will" means that unless there is a specific law protecting the employee, or if there is an employment contract, an employer may fire an employee for any reason or no reason at all.  https://askcompetentlawyer.com/covid-19-related-employment-litigation/  Under the law an employer may also treat an employee as they see fit. In addition, it is at the discretion of the employer as to whether the employee may or may not have access to their personal record. Although employers are given broad range to discharge employees and treat them as they see fit, there are certain protected categori