Mike represents public companies and smaller, privately-owned businesses and local governments in federal and state court litigation, as well as in land use and real estate development and entitlement negotiations, processes, and disputes. Mike has experience litigating throughout the United States but focuses his practice on land use, real estate and local government issues and solutions in North Carolina.
A quasi-judicial land use proceeding requires an impartial decisionmaker, like any courtroom proceeding. State law does its best to spell out what constitutes an “impermissible violation[] of due process”: A member of any board exercising quasi-judicial functions pursuant to this Article shall not participate in or vote on […]
A new law took effect in North Carolina on October 1, 2016, and it affects the need for building permits. Session Law 2016-113, entitled An Act to Provide Further Relief to the Agricultural Community, clarifies in Section 13 that a building permit is not required for certain work […]
We talked in our last piece about the parties to a lease, and the nuances of that requirement. Today, as promised in our last post, we discuss the “leased premises”. A lease is a contract. It is a contract in which the lessor (think, landlord or tenant/sublandlord) grants […]
North Carolina is a “pure race” state, for real estate title purposes. That is, “first to record an interest in land holds an interest superior to all other purchases for value, regardless of actual or constructive notice as to other, unrecorded conveyances.” Rowe v. Walker, 114 N.C. App. 36, […]
WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C.—Womble Carlyle attorney John Cooke will be a presenter at the North Carolina Association of DSS Attorneys 2016 Annual Summer Conference. The conference takes place July 7th-9th in Wrightsville Beach. Cooke will discuss “Representing the Local Government Decision Maker in Quasi-Judicial Proceedings.” In addition, Womble Carlyle […]
Aaron Frank
Amy C. O'Neal
John Cooke
Michael Thelen
WBD Admin
North Carolina Land Use Litigator 