Issue

Summary judgment—motion to strike portions of affidavit—conclusory statements and inadmissible legal conclusions—lack of specific facts

Summary

In a dispute between two businessmen, where plaintiff alleged that he and defendant had formed a common law general partnership to acquire a group of restaurants, which defendant ultimately purchased on his own, the Business Court did not abuse its discretion at summary judgment when it granted defendants' motion to strike portions of plaintiff's affidavit containing conclusory statements and "bare assertions of belief" unsupported by specific facts. For example, one of the stricken paragraphs merely announced plaintiff's belief that he could have bought the restaurants if defendant had not done so, while another paragraph alleged that plaintiff had "various financing options" available without identifying any specific financing options. Further, the Business Court properly struck any references to the formation of a "partnership" and to defendant's alleged "misappropriation" of a business opportunity, since those terms amounted to legal conclusions that the court could not consider on summary judgment.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →