Lead Stories

The difference between negligence and gross negligence is not in degree or magnitude of inadvertence or carelessness, the Court of Appeals of North Carolina has held. Gross negligence is rather intentional wrongdoing or deliberate misconduct done with conscious or reckless disregard for the rights and safety of others.  (Green v. Kearney, Ct. of App., NC, No. COA11-439, 11/15/11.)

A private fishing club organized as a nonprofit corporation in Kentucky has the authority to remove members who fail to meet the bylaw requirements for membership, the Court of Appeals of Kentucky has held.  The members have no claim for breach of fiduciary duty against the directors who made the decision because the directors owe their fiduciary duty to the corporation and membership has a whole, not to individual members.  (Fenley v. Kamp Kaintuck, No. 2010-CA-001926, 11/10/11.)

A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed the existence of a Constitutionally-required “ministerial exception” that prevents the use of standard employment discrimination law against religious institutions selecting “ministers” who personify their beliefs and promote their faith.  But the Court has left for later decisions a determination of the exact contours of the definition of a “minister.”  (Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v.

We regularly feature answers to questions from readers in our “To the Point” column. The full list can be viewed on the site. 

When should we defend volunteer accused of crime?

In 1984, Irving Duke prepared a handwritten will in which he left everything to his wife except for the $1 bequest he used to cut his brother out of the estate. He also provided that if he and his wife died simultaneously, his estate would be divided between the City of Hope in the name of his sister, and the Jewish National Fund to plant trees in Israel. 

The Court of Appeals of Tennessee has approved the part of a cy pres order authorizing Fisk University to sell a one-half interest in the Steiglitz art collection to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR, for $30 million, but has reversed that part of the order that required Fisk to put $20 million into an endowment for maintenance of the collection.  The Court of Appeals said the trial court had no authority to impose the additional requirement. (In Re: Fisk University, No.