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Smith v. Beaufort County Hospital Association12/29/2000
Appeal by plaintiffs from an order entered 13 September 1999 by Judge William C. Griffin, Jr. in Beaufort County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 18 October 2000.
Terry P. Smith, individually and as administrator of the Estate of Mary G. Smith, and Marissa Tierra Smith (collectively, "plaintiffs") appeal from a court order revoking and abrogating the original order granting pro hac vice admission to Bruce M. Wilkinson and Gloretta H. Hall (collectively, "plaintiffs' counsel").
In the assignments of error in their brief, plaintiffs claim the trial court (1) erred in concluding that it could summarily revoke previously granted pro hac vice admissions on the grounds that said conclusion is contrary to existing law and an abuse of discretion, (2) abused its discretion by revoking the pro hac vice admission previously granted to plaintiffs' counsel when there was no change in circumstances, no misconduct, and no other evidence to warrant the revocation, (3) erred in entering its conclusion of law where it concluded that reciprocity of admission does not exist between Florida and North Carolina because Florida's pro hac vice requirements differ from North Carolina's on the grounds that said conclusion is contrary to existing law, (4) erred in its conclusion of law that neither the letter nor the spirit of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 84-4.1(2) had been complied with as said conclusion of law is based upon improper findings of fact and is contrary to existing law, and (5) erred in concluding that the conduct of the law firm Gary, Williams, Parenti, Finney, Lewis, McManus, Watson & Sperando (hereinafter, "the Gary Law Firm") constituted the habitual practice of law as said conclusion was based upon improper findings of fact and is contrary to existing law. After a careful review of the records and briefs, we find plaintiffs' arguments to be without merit, and we hereby affirm the trial court.
In May 1997, after having several headaches, Mary G. Smith, plaintiff Terry P. Smith's wife, made a series of trips to the hospital and her personal doctor's office. Beaufort County Hospital Association, Inc., Nina H. Ward, M.D., Beaufort Emergency Medical Associates, P.A., Family Medical Care, Inc., George Klein, M.D., Elisabeth Cook, M.D., and Dannie Jonas, P.A. (collectively, "defendants"), all health care providers, each had a role in the care of Mrs. Smith, and each allegedly failed to diagnose her ailment. Subsequently, Mrs. Smith died on 14 June 1997. As a result, plaintiffs brought forth a medical negligence suit against defendants.
Prior to instituting the action, plaintiff Terry P. Smith approached attorney Mark V. L. Gray in regards to the suit. Having no experience in trying medical negligence cases, Mr. Gray solicited the assistance of at least two Greensboro, North Carolina attorneys; both of which declined to assist. Mr. Gray then sought the assistance of the Gary Law Firm, which is based in Stuart, Florida. Plaintiffs' counsel are members of that firm, and are not licensed to practice law in North Carolina. In fact, the Gary Law Firm does not have any attorney admitted to practice law in our state. Plaintiffs' counsel agreed to aid plaintiffs in their case, and they subsequently assisted Mr. Gray in complying with some preliminary matters involved in filing the complaint.
On 3 May 1999, Mr. Gray initiated the suit on plaintiffs' behalf, and on the same date, he filed motions to have plaintiffs' counsel admitted pro hac vice pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 84-4.1. The motions were heard ex parte before the Honorable Richard B. Allsbrook in Beaufort County Superior Court. On that very day, Judge Allsbrook entered an order allowing the motions for pro hac
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