Legal Guides

Family law cases often sit at the intersection of personal conflict and legal procedure. Two recent North Carolina appellate opinions—Pocoroba v. Gregor and Durbin v. Durbin—demonstrate how courts address contempt findings in protective order cases and how escalating conflict between parents can justify custody modifications.  Case One: Pocoroba v. Gregor In Pocoroba v. Gregor, the ...

The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently reversed a trial court’s renewal of a Domestic Violence Protective Order (DVPO) in Roy v. Martin. The case highlights the evidentiary burden required to extend a protective order, particularly when the original DVPO was entered by consent and without findings of fact. Case Background - Parties: Courtney Roy ...

In North Carolina, child custody disputes often involve not just parents, but also grandparents, relatives, or even third parties like the Department of Social Services (DSS). At the heart of these disputes lies a key question: What rights do natural parents have compared to third parties? The North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals ...

The North Carolina Supreme Court recently addressed a dispute in Smith v. Smith that highlights how stipulations between parties in equitable distribution can be challenged—and how a party’s own trial strategy can limit their appeal options. The Court’s ruling affirms important principles about stipulations, motions to set them aside, and the doctrine of invited error. ...

Divorce requires dividing property, and while homes, cars, and retirement accounts usually get the most attention, timeshares often create unexpected headaches. Timeshares have unique rules, fees, and resale challenges, which means they don’t fit neatly into the equitable distribution process. If you and your spouse own a Marriott, Hilton, Disney, Wyndham, or other timeshare, here ...

The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently addressed the limits of judicial review over family law arbitration awards in Gallagher-Masonis v. Masonis. The case highlights how premarital and postnuptial agreements, the division of marital versus separate property, and arbitration in family law disputes intersect in practice. It also shows how appellate courts will respect arbitration ...

The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently addressed a key question in family law: can a parent still be held in civil contempt if they have already paid the purge amount before the trial court enters its written order? The case of Bridges v. Bridges offers important clarification for parents and practitioners navigating child support ...

When child support is calculated for self-employed parents, disputes often arise about how to treat business deductions—especially depreciation. A recent North Carolina Court of Appeals decision, Mecklenburg County ex rel. Herron v. Pressley (2024), highlights just how complex this issue can be and why trial courts must make detailed findings before modifying support.  Case Background  ...

Defamation law protects an individual’s most valuable asset — their reputation. In North Carolina, the tort of defamation addresses situations where false statements cause a person to suffer contempt, ridicule, or harm to their standing in the community. This blog post provides an in-depth look at the law of defamation in North Carolina, including definitions, ...

A Show‑Stopper Auction Sale In March 2025, the comic book world buzzed anew when a rare copy of Action Comics #1—infamous for debuting Superman—sold at a Heritage Comics auction for $5.8 million. This staggering amount set a fresh record and captured mainstream attention—not just among collectors, but also among those curious about how high-value collectibles ...

Picture this: a highly respected expert warns a court about the dangers of AI-generated misinformation—only to be discredited because he used AI to prepare his testimony, and it produced fake citations. That’s not a law school hypothetical. It’s what happened earlier this year in Kohls v. Ellison, a First Amendment challenge out of Minnesota. The ...

Criminal conversation — often shortened to “CC” — is one of North Carolina’s most unusual and controversial torts. Despite its name, it is not a criminal offense. Instead, it is a civil action, closely related to alienation of affection, that allows a spouse to sue a third party for engaging in sexual intercourse with their ...