Fox v. Johnson

STEPHENS, Judge.

In this appeal, we consider whether Plaintiffs' malicious prosecution claims under North Carolina law brought in Guilford County Superior Court are barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel as a result of the dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) of certain federal law claims brought in Plaintiffs' earlier federal lawsuit against Defendants. Because we conclude that dismissal of federal claims pursuant to Federal Rule 12(b)(6) is not an adjudication on the merits for purposes of collaterally estopping a plaintiff from raising the same issues under state…