Now Available on Line:


Mark McGrath, "Surviving Wrongful Death Part I:  An Overview", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, September 4, 2006.

As statues go, North Carolina's wrongful death statute is a seemingly benign piece of legislation.  Under common law, all tort claims were extinguished or "abated" by the death of their holder, regardless of the degree of pain, suffering or general misery endured by the deceased prior to his demise.  Our General Assembly saw fit to rectify that inequity by enacting the North Carolina wrongful death stature, presently codified at G.S. § 28A-18-2.  Read the Full Story:  Surviving Wrongful Death Part I:  An Overview
 

Mark McGrath, "Surviving Wrongful Death Part II:  Shall it be Survival or Death?", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.

From the perspective of a trial attorney, few things spawn greater desperation than a clear liability case that is saddled with questionable medical causation. This disheartening combination of facts can be especially devastating when the negligence of a defendant causes an innocent person to suffer terribly for a period of time, only to perish later of conditions that are, arguably, unrelated to the original injury.   Read the Full Story:  Surviving Wrongful Death Part II:  Shall it be Survival or Death?

Mark McGrath, "Surviving Wrongful Death Part III:  Timing is Everything" North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.

The statutes of limitation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly appear at first blush to be paradigms of clarity. But don’t let that fool you. North Carolina’s sunset statutes can be mighty tricky critters, especially when they are applied to wrongful death cases.   Read the Full Story:  Surviving Wrongful Death Part III:  Timing is Everything
 

Mark McGrath,  "Familiarity Breeds Success: Strategies For Bullet-Proofing The Medical Expert In Malpractice Cases" North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.

In Wiggins v. Piver, 276 N.C. 134, 171 S.E.2d 393 (1970), the North Carolina supreme court rejected the "locality rule" in favor of the "same or similar communities" standard. Following Wiggins, the North Carolina General Assembly codified the same or similar communities standard in N.C. Gen. Stat. Sect. 90-21.12. Learn More:  Strategies For Bullet-Proofing The Medical Expert In Malpractice Cases
 

Mark McGrath,  "Back to the Horse and Buggy Days: North Carolina Courts Harken A Return To The 'Locality Rule' In Medical Malpractice Cases" North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.

In a remarkable turn of events, recent decisions of the North Carolina courts augur a return to the locality rule, or some variant of it, and reveal that, like the reports of Twain's death, the demise of the locality rule pronounced in Wiggins was greatly exaggerated.  Click Here:  A Return To The 'Locality Rule' In Medical Malpractice Cases
 

Mark McGrath, "A Jury of Their Peers? The High Price of Peer Review Confidentiality" North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers

The peer review privilege ensures that patients and their families will never know much of what goes on behind closed hospital doors. The privilege protects from disclosure all activities of peer review committees- bodies of physicians and other providers that are formed for the purpose of evaluating the quality of services rendered in healthcare institutions and to oversee the credentialing and assessment of medical staff members.  Click Here for:  A Jury of Their Peers? The High Price of Peer Review Confidentiality