North Carolina Lawyers Get Parental Leave From Litigation

Attorneys in North Carolina now can designate up to 12 weeks without court appearances in the wake of a new child, the state’s Supreme Court announced Sept. 10.

The new policy comes from a change in the high court’s General Rules of Practice and Rules of Appellate Procedure and were approved at its September conference, said Chief Justice Cheri Beasley. Under both rules, attorneys in the state are allowed three weeks of “secured leave"—meaning time during which trial courts and appellate courts will not hold a proceeding in any of the individual’s cases—for any purpose. The amended rules now ...