North Carolina Baptist Hospitals, Inc. v. Mitchell

While it is clear that we have done so implicitly, this Court should very explicitly disavow the holding of the Court of Appeals in this case to the effect that any distinction drawn between the assignment of a claim of personal injuries and the assignment of the proceeds of such a claim is a “mere fiction,” and therefore an assignment of proceeds is a violation of public policy and thus invalid.

The Court of Appeals was quite correct in holding that a raw claim or the cause of action itself is not assignable. “It seems that few legal principles are as well settled, and as universally agreed…