John has more than 30 years of experience in land use law and real estate litigation. Based in the Raleigh-Durham region, John practices throughout North Carolina. He represents all types of business clients - developers, end users and land owners - when they attempt to use their land or maximize its value through securing entitlements, forming public-private agreements or handling litigation.
If you know the term “ruckus” – generally anything loud, confusing and conflicted — it’s often a dead-on description of a contested QJZ proceeding. Every QJZ proceeding begins with a person filing an application requesting a QJZ decision. The applicant starts the ruckus.
Crack open any law dictionary worth its salt and you will find the Latin phrase “Qui Tacet Consentire Videtur” or “He who is silent appears to consent.” Do not be fooled – context matters – a pithy Latin phrase is not a general rule of law. In American […]
Sometimes, the simplest, local example teaches the deepest, global lesson – politics and impartiality do not mix. Under the blanketing fog of politics and internet delivered news, it’s easy to become confused and actually believe you can thread the needle of politics and impartiality, but it can’t be […]
Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken is a great American poem about choices. In the poem, the fork where the two roads diverge provides no indication which path is the better path to travel. In life and law, sometimes the better path is remarkably clear, but not everybody […]
Introduction Sometimes, I read a court’s opinion and put it aside because it is thought provoking beyond its facts and outcome. The case of United States Cold Storage, Inc. v. Town of Warsaw, __ N.C. App. ___, 784 S.E. 2d 575 (April 5, 2016) falls into this category. […]
Aaron Frank
Amy C. O'Neal
John Cooke
Michael Thelen
WBD Admin
North Carolina Land Use Litigator 