Have you or your company ever been subpoenaed by someone and you wonder, “wait, why am I being dragged into their mess?” It seems unfair. Why should you have to take time out of your busy day to help someone else either pursue or defend their own lawsuit? Let’s face it, most people don’t want to be involved in litigation of any kind, let alone someone else’s litigation. There’s nothing to be gained and only time and money to be lost. However, a North Carolina Business Court ruling last year made clear that non-parties to the case should not be unduly burdened with subpoena requests or required to turn over…
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North Carolina Business Court Weights in on Attorneys’ Fees in Class Action Settlements
Recent decisions by the North Carolina Court of Appeals and North Carolina Business Court (NCBC) shed light on a previously unsettled question of law: when can a North Carolina trial court award attorney’s fees as part of a class-action settlement in the absence of additional statutory authority? Long-standing precedent is that a court can award attorneys’ fees to a prevailing party when statutorily authorized to do so.[1] This practice is known as the “American Rule.” The intended purpose of the American Rule is to encourage the conservation of judicial resources by promoting settlement and discouraging unnecessarily prolonged litigation.[2] Regarding…
