If you’ve been reading this blog, you’ve read THIS POST about our winning appeal in a case involving ownership of a Miniature Dalmatian. The Court of Appeals reversed the order which awarded ownership to the opposite party, reasoning that the District Court has applied the wrong burden of proof. After the original order was vacated, though, it remained the District Court’s duty to enter a new order which applied the correct burden.
Because appeals in North Carolina are all handled centrally in Raleigh, this firm represents clients throughout the state. Almost always, these representations do not require any visits to the county where the case originated. Even when this firm wins an appeal in a case like this one, where further trial proceedings must complete the case after remand from the Court of Appeals, this firm often hands the case back off to local trial counsel. In this case, however, the remand hearing concerned issues that were so intertwined with the appeal that it made the most sense for a local appearance.
That’s how I recently found myself in Franklin, North Carolina. If you live in the central or eastern parts of the state, as most North Carolinians do, you may wonder where exactly Franklin is. Basically you drive on 1-40 to Asheville and then take a state highway in the direction of Atlanta for another hour. You’ll pass through a number of towns along the way, including Canton, Sylva, and Waynesville. It is deep in the beautiful mountains of our State and will challenge your driving skills as you hug your car around steep and curving roads! Fortunately the trip was as successful as it was beautiful, and I was able to prevail at the remand hearing.