Case v. Case

JOHNSON, Judge.

Defendant assigns as error the trial court’s granting of plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment. Before we address defendant’s assignment of error, we must first determine if defendant’s appeal is premature at this stage of the proceedings. G.S. 1A-1, Rule 56(d) clearly contemplates that summary judgment may be entered upon less than the whole case and that the court may make a summary adjudication that is not final. Patrick v. Hurdle, 16 N.C. App. 28, 190 S.E. 2d 871, cert. denied, 282 N.C. 304, 192 S.E. 2d 195 (1972). In this instance, the partial summary judgment is…