LANIER LAW GROUP SCORES BIG VICTORY IN NC COURT OF APPEALS ON BEHALF OF CHILD VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ABUSE

In 2019 the North Carolina legislature unanimously passed the SAFE Child Act (SCA). One key aspect of the SCA is that the legislature included a two-year "revival window" -- from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021 -- that allowed any person who was a victim of child sexual abuse to file a lawsuit against the perpetrator and the perpetrator's employer despite their statute of limitations having expired. Our legislature recognized the great injustice that a regular three year statute of limitations places on child victims of sexual abuse, most of whom are unable to fully understand what happened to them and its impact on their lives until well into their adult years. 

Lanier Law Group became the leading law firm in the state representing survivors of child sexual abuse and bringing claims for them under the two-year revival window provided by the SCA. Attorneys for the defendants who were sued contended that the revival window violated the North Carolina Constitution. 

Because of our firm's extensive involvement in representing child sexual abuse survivors, we had the first case to work its way through the legal system and get to our appellate courts. On June 6, 2023, along with North Carolina's solicitor General, Bobby Jenkins argued McKinney et al. v. Gaston County Board of Education at the Court of Appeals.  

In a 2-1 decision (our Court of Appeals hears cases with a panel of three judges) the Court of Appeals held that the two-year revival window of the SAFE Child Act IS constitutional. In a wonderfully insightful and extremely well-written opinion, Judge Riggs recognized that there is no specific provision in the North Carolina Constitution that prevents our Legislature from giving a two-year window to bring claims to child sex abuse victims who thought their opportunity for justice was long gone.  

However, our work on behalf of child sex abuse survivors is not over. The Gaston County Board of Education has already filed a notice of appeal with the North Carolina Supreme Court and in the coming weeks and months we will be working with great diligence and total determination to put together our argument to submit to the Supreme Court. We believe that in the end justice will prevail and that all the courageous survivors we represent will get their day in court.