Victory At The North Carolina Court Of Appeals For Wilmington’s Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church

Ward and Smith attorney Gavin Parsons assisted Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church of Wilmington (Fifth Avenue) in a dispute over ownership of church property with the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC).

Fifth Avenue is a historic church established in 1847, located near the Cape Fear River in Wilmington.

In early 2023, Fifth Avenue began the process of disaffiliating from the UMC following procedures laid out in the UMC’s Book of Discipline (BOD), the governance […]

By | January 8th, 2025 ||

Court Adopts Variation Of Bizarre Privilege Principle

Several courts have adopted a nonsensical principle that, as one court put it, “[w]hen documents are prepared for dissemination to third parties, neither the document itself, nor preliminary drafts, are entitled to immunity.” Burton v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 170 F.R.D. 481, 485 (D. Kan. 1997). Stated bluntly, that does not make sense. But even some circuit courts have adopted that curious approach.

In Taylor v. County of San Bernardino, the court articulated an odd variation on […]

By | January 5th, 2025 ||

Rapunzel: A Litigation Finance Story

This holiday season, Certum Group made another children’s book… about litigation finance.
Rapunzel: A Litigation Finance Story
When Rapunzel was locked in a tower, her only move was to build a silken ladder to climb out.

That didn’t work out so well.

Ever found yourself wishing she had litigation funding to sue the witch for her release?

Wish no more! Check out our children’s book.

Come for the heartwarming tale of access of justice. Stay for the plot twist about […]

By | January 2nd, 2025 ||