N.C. appeals court vacates order eliminating comp lienA North Carolina appeals court on Wednesday vacated orders eliminating an employer and insurer’s workers compensation lien on an injured worker’s $450,000 third-party settlement, ruling the lower court lacked jurisdiction because the agreement was not final. Mr. Saunders then asked the trial court under North Carolina law to determine the amount of the employer and insurer’s subrogation lien. The appeals court said it was bound by its 2004 ruling in Ales v. T.A. Because resolution of the workers compensation lien was a condition precedent to the settlement, the agreement was not final and the trial court lacked jurisdiction to extinguish the lien, the appeals court said. It said, however, that only the state Supreme Court, the General Assembly or the Court of Appeals sitting en banc could overturn the precedent.