Estate of Kish Docket No.: 20230275 Filing Date: 4/26/2024 Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Probate, Wills, Trusts Author: Tufte, Jerod E.  View Opinion Highlight: A two-step analysis is required to determine whether an order is appealable. First, for this Court to have appellate jurisdiction, the order being appealed must meet statutory criteria for appealability. Second, for this Court to consider the appeal at this time, the requirements of N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) must have been satisfied. Decisions have stated that this Court lacks appellate jurisdiction when an appellant fails to obtai ..read more

An order regarding the vacancy in East Central Judicial District Judgeship No. 8, with chambers in Fargo, has been posted to the opinions page.   This notice is provided under N.D.R.Proc.R. § 7. Vacancy in Judgeship No. 8, ECJD Docket No.: 20240055 Filing Date: 4/23/2024 Case Type: Judicial Administration - Rule - Rule Author: Not Available  View Opinion Highlight: Vacancy retained at Fargo ..read more

Instructor Mark Turner and students from the Criminal Justice class at the United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, N.D. observed a live Supreme Court oral argument followed by a question and answer session with Justice Douglas Bahr.  Students were able to observe how attorneys for appellants and appellees argue before the court and understand why parties may choose to have oral arguments versus waiving oral arguments. Students asked questions related to the process of writing court opinions, what it takes to become a lawyer, and the preparation justices take prior to oral arguments. Th ..read more

Cichos, et al. v. Dakota Eye Institute, P.C., et al. Docket No.: 20230212 Filing Date: 4/19/2024 Case Type: Appeal - Civil - Malpractice Author: Tufte, Jerod E.  View Opinion Highlight: Case Highlight: Rule 54(b), N.D.R.Civ.P., preserves our long-standing policy against piecemeal appeals. When this Court considers the merits in a case involving a N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) certification, it does so because the resolution of the issue on appeal will always need to be resolved and is separate from the issue left to be adjudicated. To establish a prima facie case of professional neglige ..read more

Interest of H.J.J.N. Docket No.: 20240060 Filing Date: 4/18/2024 Case Type: Appeal - Juvenile - Termination of Parental Rights Author: McEvers, Lisa K. Fair  View Opinion Highlight: Case Highlight: Litigants in civil nonjury cases have a right to have their attorneys make a final argument. A court errs by entering judgment prior to the closing of the briefing period. In parental-termination cases, the court has discretion, which can be exercised only after considering the evidence and arguments ..read more

The public portal notification in the North Dakota Appellate Case System received an update today.  Notifications of prior filings may not have been sent.  To ensure that all counsel and parties receive notifications, an email with all docket entries and documents in cases since the new system went live on August 8, 2024, will be sent soon.  This may be duplicative of a prior notification.  After that initial notification, you will receive an hourly notification if any docket entries added to a case in which you are counsel or a party. We thank you for your patience during ..read more

Laurie Guenther, Director of Admissions for the State Board of Law Examiners, was awarded the Legacy Award.  The Legacy Award is the highest award given by the Western Dakota Association of Legal Assistants (WDALA).  Laurie has been with the Board of Law examiners since July 2011, after having been a paralegal in private practice before that time. Petra H. Mandigo Hulm, Secretary-Treasurer of the State Board of Law Examiners, said “I have worked with Laurie both in private practice and with the State Board of Law Examiners, and I cannot imagine a more worthy candidate.  Laurie i ..read more

The Supreme Court at North Dakota State University in Fargo - The April 11, 2024 photos Friday As part of the visit to Fargo on April 11, 2024, the North Dakota Supreme Court traveled to NDSU to visit with students and hear oral arguments in State v. Camperud, case number 20230370.  Andrea Smith, Senior Lecturer of Business Law at NDSU, invited the state supreme court to visit NDSU.  Roughly 300 students and guests attended the oral arguments.  The supreme court conducts outreach to North Dakota schools and universities across the state 2-3 times per year as part ..read more

The State Board of Law Examiners have announced the results of the February 2024 bar examination. Of the 28 applicants who sat for the bar examination in Bismarck, North Dakota, 17 applicants achieved a passing score. This is a 61 percent overall pass rate, compared to 54 percent a year ago. The passage rate for those taking the North Dakota examination for the first time was 63 percent. Of the 19 graduates from the University of North Dakota School of Law who sat for this exam, 12 achieved a passing score, which is a 63 percent overall pass rate, compared to 61 percent a year ago. Eleven of t ..read more

State’s Attorney offices with certain network setups may not be able to connect to e-filing in the new Supreme Court public portal.  If anyone from those offices needs to file until the issue is fixed, please email filings to supclerkofcourt@ndcourts.gov.  We will update when the issue is resolved.  Thank you for your patience ..read more