Partner Jon Buchan was quoted recently in a Lawyers Weekly article, “File of Sex Assault Lawsuit Against Businessman Must Be Unsealed.”
The article discusses implications of the December 18, 2018 decision by the North Carolina Court of Appeals that ruled for Essex Richards’ client The Fayetteville Observer and reversed a Superior Court Judge’s sealing of the entire court file in a civil case involving a prominent Fayetteville business man.
Buchan called the opinion from the North Carolina Court of Appeals “a powerful signal to our trial courts that both the First Amendment and the North Carolina constitution set an extraordinarily high bar to sealing court records and closing court proceedings.”
“Any trial judge asked by lawyers to keep civil cases or records hidden from public view will surely give this opinion a close read when considering such a request,” he said.
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