MVA Litigation Blog

   Members, managers, directors, and executives of limited liability companies (“LLC”) are provided protections under North Carolina law which limit their personal responsibility for obligations incurred by the LLC.  This limitation includes liabilities incurred for professional negligence, malpractice, and other wrongdoing attributable to the LLC and other employees or members of the LLC.  There is, however, a limit to the limited liability protection provided under North Carolina General Statutes § 57C-3-30; and plaintiffs continue to attempt to impose personal ...

In the age of e-discovery, businesses across the nation have been challenged with seemingly insurmountable hurdles when facing litigation.  The costs of conducting e-discovery can be extraordinarily high, given the volumes of data often at issue in complex commercial litigation.  The recent case VOOM HD Holdings LLC v. EchoStar Satellite L.L.C., 2012 NY Slip Op 00658 (Jan. 31, 2012) decided by the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division admonishes potential litigants that mishandling the e-discovery process comes at a much higher price.  Despite protests from litigants ...

   Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner was likely happy to see the news of Governor Perdue’s Executive Order 86 which established the North Carolina Judicial Nominating Commission.  In 2010, former Justice O’Connor highlighted that the U.S. was the only nation in the world that had elections for its judges (at the state level) and admonished: “I know you have some public funding of elections, and it's nonpartisan, but that doesn't do enough. So I hope that someday you'll think about something else in North Carolina.”  See here for former Justice ...

   While it is difficult to find the right words to say, I want to say something to honor my friend who recently passed away.  Judge Christopher M. Collier was far too young and taken too suddenly for me to have been prepared to reflect on his life and the impact he had made on the world and those around him.  I have had a couple of weeks since his passing for the loss to sink in.  We are incredibly fortunate to have been touched by Chris Collier while he was with us. 

    I first became friends with Chris when we were undergraduate students at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Our paths continued to ...

   It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings…or a federal court withdraws its controversial opinion.  Although infrequently, courts do withdraw their opinions and several federal court opinions of interest have been withdrawn since being issued this year.  No doubt these opinions addressed hot topics, leading to controversy over the courts’ initial opinions and prompting the courts to wipe the slate clean for reconsideration.

    Back of the Line Veterans:  Veterans’ rights could not be a more poignant and timely issue and it is one that is drawing a lot of attention.  On November 16 ...

Hypothetical Question: a contract contains an arbitration clause that requires the arbitration of all disputes and also prohibits the parties from arbitrating any claims as part of a class or representative action.  Is the class/representative arbitration waiver enforceable under AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S.Ct. 1740 (2011)?

We discussed that there is a significant possibility that Concepcion will not preclude all class actions.  See here.  Lower courts, both federal and state, are in the process of testing exactly where the line will be drawn.  Several lower courts have ...

Most are aware of the noteworthy U.S. Supreme Court decision in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S.Ct. 1740, issued on April 27, 2011.  I addressed the implications of Concepcion in a previous blog. Concepcion has generated a lot of discussion and has been feared by some to be the “death knell” of the consumer class action.  But can the reach of Concepcion actually be much farther?  Will Concepcion be labeled the “death knell” of preliminary state administrative hearings as well?  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent summary disposition of a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the ...

Does expert evidence that is offered in support of class certification need to be scientifically reliable in order to be admissible at the class certification stage? While the Circuit Courts are reportedly split on the application of Daubert at the class certification stage, a look behind the terminology used by the courts (full vs. limited or tailored Daubert review) reveals that the courts consistently have required that the admissibility, i.e., the scientific reliability and relevance, of the expert evidence offered in support of class certification be determined at the class ...

   In March, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important ruling in Shady Grove Orthopedic Associates v. Allstate Insurance Co., 130 S. Ct. 1431 (2010) that opened the federal courts to plaintiffs as a forum for class actions. However, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently advised putative class action plaintiffs that the door opened by Shady Grove is not as wide as they may have hoped.

   The Shady Grove plaintiff filed a class action in federal court based on diversity jurisdiction and sought state statutory penalties in spite of a New York state statute that prohibited class ...

Over the last three years, the Supreme Court has issued a number of opinions that have given strength to arbitration agreements. The Court has reiterated that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) places arbitration agreements on equal footing with other contracts. As a result, corporations will be better able to use arbitration to safeguard against costly and lengthy individual and class actions. On August 5, 2011, I addressed these developments and their impact on corporate clients in the “Class Action Update” presented at the Network of Trial Law Firms “Litigation ...