KEN GUMBINER JOINS HIGGINS BENJAMIN
Ken Gumbiner concentrates his practice in business, intellectual property, and construction law and litigation. He is a graduate engineer and has over thirty years of experience in all forms of dispute resolution, including complex litigation, arbitration, and mediation. He has been recognized by Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, Legal Elite in North Carolina, and... Read More
Noncompetition Agreements: New Case Highlights Need for Legislative Solution
By Jon Wall, Member, Higgins Benjamin, PLLC The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently affirmed a long line of North Carolina cases refusing to enforce overly broad noncompetition agreements. Noncompetition agreements, also called “noncompete clauses” and “covenants not to compete,” are contract clauses used to prevent an employee (or former business owner) from leaving employment... Read More
This Order Will Be Reversed on Appeal, but I’ll Enter It Anyway
By: Stephen Robertson, Member, Higgins Benjamin, PLLC The common wisdom among trial lawyers is that judges will try their best to get it right. Our best judges are keen legal scholars, ethically and morally upright, and with solid judicial temperament. But, even if these loftier attributes, goals and motives do not steer the court in the... Read More
Business Court Dismisses LLC Member vs. Member Claims; Derivative Claim Against Managing Member Survives
By John Bloss, Member, Higgins Benjamin PLLC Trust your fellow LLC member at your peril, a new North Carolina Business Court opinion instructs. Glenn Crossing, LLC, one of the defendants in Island Beyond, LLC v. Prime Capital Group, LLC, 2013 NCBC 51 (Oct. 30, 2013),was formed for the purpose of purchasing and owning 30 acres... Read More
The First Step in Getting a Patent – Patentable Subject Matter
By Bert Andia, Member, Higgins Benjamin, PLLC Every month, I receive a number of phone calls asking whether the caller can get a patent on a certain device or a certain idea. While such advice cannot typically be provided over the telephone without more information, the starting point for answering that question begins with a... Read More
New Opinion Involving Landlord’s Acceptance of Rent From Holdover Tenant Muddies Water
By: John Bloss, Member, Higgins Benjamin, PLLC A landlord who takes rent from a “holdover tenant”—a lessee who stays on the premises after the term of the lease—can run the risk of unwittingly creating a new lease term, generally presumed in North Carolina to be one year. A recent North Carolina Court of Appeals case,... Read More
Trade Secrets Misappropriation Claims Against Non-Employees Survive Motion to Dismiss
By: John Bloss, Member, Higgins Benjamin, PLLC The North Carolina Business Court continues to be a battleground for disputes involving alleged misappropriations of trade secrets. These lawsuits typically target disloyal former employees, but in a recent opinion, the Business Court allowed claims against non-employee defendants to move forward. The plaintiff in Koch Measurement Devices, Inc.... Read More
But I Wanted that Domain Name!!
By: Bert Andia, Member, Higgins Benjamin, PLLC Choosing and registering a correct domain name is an important part of any business enterprise, and you should endeavor to pick a domain that cannot be disputed. This article uses the case of Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. McSherry, 2003 NAFDD LEXIS 11339 (June 17, 2003) to illustrate the... Read More
Lawsuit Challenging Mission Hospital’s Billing Practices for Uninsured Emergency Room Patients Allowed to Proceed
It may seem counterintuitive, but many non-profit hospitals around the country charge their uninsured patients substantially more–often several times as much–for emergency room services as compared to amounts paid by all other categories of patients, including patients with medical insurance and Medicare and Medicaid patients, for the same care. A putative class action lawsuit against... Read More
Can You Protect Your Slogan?
By: Bert Andia, Member, Higgins Benjamin, PLLCYou’ve come up with a great new slogan that you want to print on t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee cups and other products. Now you want to know how to stop others from using that same slogan. You think you remember hearing that Pat Riley had gotten a copyright on the... Read More