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Bank of America Corp., one of the nation’s largest banks and credit card issuers, recently ended a requirement that disputes with the bank’s customers be settled through binding mandatory arbitration (“forced arbitration”). The announcement by the bank followed statements by two large arbitration services that they would no longer handle […]

A very important piece of consumer protection legislation was recently passed by the North Carolina Legislature and signed into law by Governor Bev Perdue. The Consumer Economic Protection Act of 2009 provides important protections for homeowners dealing with delinquent mortgage payments and foreclosure threats. The protections provide for a lower […]

Economists estimate that spending on medical malpractice– including administrative costs as well as paying jury awards and confidential settlements– adds up to less than one-half of a percentage point of medical spending. A recent New York Times column explored whether this can really be the reason that American health care […]

On September 1, 2009, the Court of Appeals (‘COA’) published another batch of opinions, several involving workers’ compensation claims. Among them is Nale v. Ethan Allen, in which the COA reversed the Industrial Commission’s determination that the worker’s left knee injury was caused by the admittedly work-related injury to her […]

The National Arbitration Forum (“NAF”), the largest arbitration company in the nation, recently announced that it would discontinue conducting consumer arbitrations. The move comes as a result of a lawsuit filed against NAF by the Minnesota Attorney General. That suit and others followed accusations that NAF, though holding itself out […]

According to a story published on WRAL.com, the North Carolina Rate Bureau has requested a 9.6% decrease in workers’ compensation insurance rates. If the rate adjustment is approved, North Carolina business could save more than $119 million. The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce is constantly clamoring about the need to […]

If you are given the choice, the decision between having a C-section or a vaginal delivery is an entirely a personal one. There are many pieces of information to consider. One of those considerations has just been made a bit clearer by a study described in the New York Times. […]

*Lassiter v. Town of Selma — This is another classic ‘Adams Appeal,’ as touched on briefly in the blog post below. In Adams, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that as long as there is any evidence in the record to support the Commission’s finding of fact, that finding will […]

Medical mistakes are increasing and hospitals and doctors don’t want patients to know about it. I see this everyday in the dozens of phone calls Martin & Jones gets from patients who were injured by a mistake made by a doctor or a nurse. But you don’t have to take […]

The Court of Appeals (‘COA’ for short) didn’t have much to say on workers’ compensation issues last month. All of its workers’ compensation opinions were ‘unpublished,’ which means that they are not controlling legal authority. Here’s a brief round-up of the COA’s July opinions: *Spears v. Tyson Foods, Inc. — […]