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The Uncertain Fate of Asymmetrical Dispute Resolution Clauses in Arbitration around the Globe: To Be or Not to Be
Get PDFThis article examines the validity and enforceability of asymmetrical dispute resolution clauses combining arbitration and litigation. Such clauses are currently favored by businesses in their search for a method of dispute resolution that provides a more favorable position for one of the parties to an agreement and ensures better enforcement against the assets of the counterparty
In Defense of Occupational Licensing: A Legal Practitioner\u27s Perspective
Get PDFIn recent years, occupational licensing boards have come under fire from critics across the nation. Much of the recent critique of occupational licensing boards has centered on the breadth of power these boards hold and the supposed lack of state supervision over them. And yet, occupational licensing boards in North Carolina are subject to significant state supervision. This Article seeks to rebut arguments of no state supervision over occupational licensing boards. This Article’s primary goal is to provide a cogent defense of occupational licensing boards in an effort to show their validity and legitimacy
Fences and Gates: A Survey of Collaborative Aspects of District Court Practice in Light of Self-Represented Litigants, Addiction, and the Mandate to Formulate Plans
Get PDFThe district courts of North Carolina are called to handle a multitude of legal issues, many of which are vital, personal issues facing individuals in our society. Court dockets swell with cases for resolution, due in part to substance use disorder, addiction, and legal issues that frequently arise as a result of them. The court must adjudicate in the midst of these complex challenges experienced by the litigants. These litigants are also increasingly appearing before the court without legal counsel. In Reinventing the Courts: The Frontiers of Judicial Activism in the State Courts, criticism is leveled at courts that attempt to solve these problems. Under legislative direction and ethical duty, a North Carolina district court judge may utilize collaborative and problem-solving methods to bring cases to a resolution. These methods, despite the criticism of Frontiers, are not far beyond the historically contemplated purposes of courts and are well within long-standing structural safeguards, statutory requirements and ethical obligations. In many instances, the court is called to resolve these issues and formulate plans for resolution of these cases by the North Carolina General Assembly. The challenges that present in court everyday often need these approved, prescribed problem solving approaches to answer the needs of the litigants
Driven to Despair: Confronting Racial Inequity in North Carolina\u27s License Suspension Practices
Get PDFHundreds of thousands of North Carolina drivers have a suspended license for unpaid traffic court fines and fees. The practice of suspending drivers’ licenses for unpaid fines and fees is inequitable and counterproductive. This practice disenfranchises rural drivers and those facing poverty and creates a significant obstacle to employment. Furthermore, African-American drivers are four times as likely as non-Hispanic, white drivers to have a suspended license for unpaid fines and fees. Drawing upon lessons learned from the Driver’s License Restoration Project, the Authors conclude that legislative action is needed to remedy this inequitable and inefficient system of collecting state revenue. North Carolina should cease the practice of suspending licenses for unpaid fines and fees, pursue a decrease in criminal court fees and fines overall, and implement a sliding scale structure for fees and fines that makes a fact-specific determination about an individual’s real wages and ability to pay. This recommendation would lead to greater racial and economic equity, strengthen the North Carolina economy, and increase the aggregate amount of fees and fines collected by the state. This Article is a continuation of a prior published work, The Poverty Penalty: Driver’s License Restoration In North Carolina
Cheat Sheets and Capital Juries: In \u3cem\u3eState v. Tucker\u3c/em\u3e, North Carolina\u27s Attorney General and Supreme Court Contend with Evidence of Prosecutors\u27 Efforts to Circumvent \u3cem\u3eBatson v. Kentucky\u3c/em\u3e
Get PDFThis Article considers ongoing litigation in State v. Tucker, a case currently before the Supreme Court of North Carolina, involving prosecutors’ use of peremptory challenges to secure an all-white jury in a capital trial involving a Black defendant. The argument proceeds in three parts. Part I contends that prosecutors’ surreptitious use of a “cheat sheet” that recited “justifications” for peremptory challenges in Tucker’s capital trial evidences their intent to discriminate against him and the Black members of the venire. Part II critiques the N.C. Attorney General’s decision to defend the trial prosecutors’ use of the document. Part II, Section A argues that his office’s response to Tucker has exposed limitations of its commitment to addressing the issues identified by the N.C. Task Force on Racial Equity and Criminal Justice, which he co-chaired. Part II, Section B argues that ending racial discrimination in jury selection in North Carolina will require the Office of the Attorney General to demonstrate that there are limits to the conduct it will defend on appeal. Part III considers the arguments advanced by the Attorney General in response to the allegations raised in Tucker’s petition. Part III, Section A discusses the growing recognition of exceptions to procedural bars that might otherwise prohibit courts from considering evidence of racial discrimination in jury selection. Part III, Section B argues that the equal protection doctrine does not permit prosecutors to employ devices designed to undermine the operation of mechanisms imposed by courts to guard against racial discrimination. Part III, Section C discusses unique considerations regarding the adjudication of homicide cases involving Black defendants in North Carolina and argues that courts should closely scrutinize claims of racial discrimination in the jury selection process in such cases
The Justice Gap Problem Solving: History and Innovation
Get PDFThe issue of addressing the justice gap in civil cases has been and continues to be the subject of research and suggestions by many authors across the United States, especially in the face of additional complexities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. This Article introduces a description of the traditional approaches that have been proposed to close the justice gap and highlights the innovative ways to address this problem that have been offered over the past twenty years. Part I is devoted to the history of pro bono legal services and the reasons for the impossibility of solving the problem of access to justice using these approaches exclusively. Parts II, III, and IV describe other models of delivering legal services that have the potential to make legal services more affordable to clients who cannot obtain legal services at prevailing market rates, thus addressing the justice gap problem
