Court of Appeals Clarifies When a Written Order May Differ from the Orally Rendered Decision

If you’ve been practicing in North Carolina long enough, you have undoubtedly encountered this fact pattern: A judge issues a ruling from the bench and asks the prevailing party to draft the order. The prevailing party adds a few flourishes to the proposed order that go beyond the orally rendered ruling. (Or, worse still, the prevailing party adds substantive provisions to the proposed order that contradict the orally rendered ruling.) You object and submit a so-called “competing” order.