UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT ANTHONY LAMBERT, SR.; MARION KNIGHT LAMBERT, Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v. BRENDA G. WILLIAMS, individually and in her official capacity as a social worker; VELVEETA R. REID, individually and in her official capacity as a social worker; DARLENE REID, individually and in her official capacity as a social worker; ALICE E. STALLINGS, individually and in her official No. 98-2070 capacity as service supervisor; VIOLA SPIVEY, individually; WILLIE BINES, individually; GWENDOLYN C. COLEMAN, individually and in her capacity as Director, Pasquotank County Department of Social Services; PASQUOTANK COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES; PASQUOTANK COUNTY BOARD OF SOCIAL SERVICES; PASQUOTANK COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA; BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, PASQUOTANK COUNTY, Defendants-Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Elizabeth City. Terrence W. Boyle, Chief District Judge. (CA-98-9-2-BO)Submitted: December 15, 1998 Decided: December 29, 1998 Before MURNAGHAN, MICHAEL, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________________________________________ Affirmed in part and vacated and remanded in part by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________ COUNSEL Anthony Lambert, Sr., Marion Knight Lambert, Appellants Pro Se.Robert Harrison Sasser, III, Coleman M. Cowan, WOMBLE, CARLYLE, SANDRIDGE & RICE, Raleigh, North Carolina; Thomas Giles Meacham, Jr., OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NORTH CAROLINA, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees.

_________________________________________________________________ Unpublished opinions are not binding pr ecedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________ OPINION
PER CURIAM: Anthony Lambert, Sr., and Marion Lambert appeal from the district court's order dismissing their 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 (West Supp. 1998)action as barred by res judicata. As to all but the malicious prosecution claim, we affirm on the reasoning of the district court. The Lamberts filed earlier actions alleging misconduct by several parties involved in the Lambert children's child abuse and neglect case. Because there were final judgments on the merits in the earlier actions, identity of the cause of action in the earlier cases and the instant case, and identity of the parties or their privies, we find that
2the district court correctly concluded that all claims but that of malicious prosecution are barred by res judicata. See Hogan v. Cone Mills Corp. , 337 S.E.2d 477, 482 (N.C. 1985). The Lamberts allege that Defendants maliciously pursued the child abuse and neglect case. To support a malicious prosecution claim in North Carolina, a "[p]laintiff must establish four elements[:] . . . (1) defendant initiated the earlier proceeding; (2) malice on the part of the defendant in doing so; (3) lack of probable cause for the initiation of the earlier proceeding; and (4) termination of the earlier proceeding in favor of the plaintiff." Best v. Duke Univ. , 448 S.E.2d 506, 510(N.C. 1994). Here, the fourth element, termination of the prior proceeding in the Lamberts' favor, did not occur until February 1995. Both of the Lamberts' earlier actions ended before 1995. Because the malicious prosecution claim was not ripe until 1995, res judicata based on the two earlier cases does not preclude the Lamberts from raising this claim.For these reasons, we vacate in part and remand for further proceedings on the malicious prosecution claim. We dispense with oralargument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED AND REMANDED IN PART
3