Wake Bar Flyer - Jan/Feb. 2012

WAKE BAR FLYER

TO EASE ONE LIFE THE ACHING MARTIN BRINKLEY’S COMMENTS TO THE WCBA • PAGE 4

XXXIIX No. 1 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

Message from the President:

TED EDWARDS, Wake County Bar Association

Upcoming Meetings

WE HAVE A CALL TO SERVE! Most of us entered the legal profession to serve others.

Whether you grew up with attorneys in your family or just looking up to attorneys that you saw in the movies or on TV as I did, many of us were initially attracted to the law after seeing the positive impact that lawyers can have on our society. I remember hearing my parents tell me stories about the civil rights movement and how Charles Hamilton Houston and Justice Marshall led a group of lawyers that changed our nation. That is just one of many examples of the great impact attorneys have had on our nation, our state and our county. There are countless other attorneys who have worked tirelessly at the national, state and local level to improve our community. As we begin 2012, it is my hope that we will continue to build upon the great tradition of lawyers working to serve others.

We all know that the economy has created difficult times for many people over the past few years. Just here in Wake County, more than ten percent of the population, or approximately 90,000 people, live below the poverty level. This is the potential client base for Legal Aid to serve in Wake County with a staff of eight full-time attorneys and one who works part-time. It is little wonder then that approximately half of the eligible people who come to Legal Aid for legal assistance are turned away. There is simply not enough money available to adequately staff Legal Aid to handle all of the need, and unfortunately more budget cuts seem to be on the way. In November, Congress cut funding for Legal Aid’s parent corporation by almost 15 percent. In addition, state funding was cut by 33 percent and IOLTA funding is down by 30 percent. This is the harsh reality that Legal Aid faces and the reason it is vital that we make a concerted effort to help Legal Aid this year.

The Wake County Bar Association believes that the gap can be met through the assistance of volunteer attorneys willing to supplement the Legal Aid staff. This year we are asking attorneys in Wake County (whether or not they belong to the Wake County Bar Association) to volunteer to assist Legal Aid. There are several ways that attorneys can offer to help.

First, lawyers can sign up directly with Legal Aid to take cases that have been screened by Legal Aid. For more information about this, please contact Celia Mansaray at (919) 828-4647 or celiam@legalaidnc.org.

Second, the Wake County Bar Association will be partnering with Campbell Law School’s externship program. This program allows the attorney to supervise a Campbell law student on a pro bono matter referred to the attorney by Legal Aid. The law student will receive course credit after

WCBA LUNCHEON • February 7 Panelists Michelle Cofield, Ed Gaskins and Professor Margaret Currin will discuss Pro Bono opportunities in Wake County and ways to make Rule 6.1 not only aspirational, but achievable. Sign up at www.wakecounty bar.org on the Feb. 7 calendar item.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

DIVERSITY IN THE BAR: A Look at the History of Black Lawyers in Wake County • February 15 Part of our continuing Breakfast Series at the Mecca, beginning at 7:30 a.m. Panelists include Judge Cressie Thigpen, Geoff Simmons, and Kaye Webb, who will discuss the integration of black attorneys into the Wake County Bar and share inspirational anecdotes relating to the challenges overcome by minority attorneys in Wake County. Sign up at www.wakecountybar.org on the Feb. 15 calendar item.

Inside this Issue...

2 • PRESIDENTIAL PROFILES 3 • A WINDOW INTO THEIR TIMES 7 • LETTER TO THE EDITOR | LANC 9 • IDENTIFY YOUR STRENGTHS 10 • REHAB WITHOUT THE PAPARAZZI 11 • LAWYERS MOVE TO STRIKE!

Visit our new website: www.wakecountybar.org 919.677.9903 phone 919.657.1564 fax

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WAKE BAR FLYER

PRESIDENTIAL PROFILES

XXXIIX No. 1 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

TED SMYTH

President, Wake County Bar Association THEODORE C. EDWARDS II

Tenth Judicial District Bar President

President, Tenth Judicial District Bar THEODORE B. SMYTH

ONE OF TED SMYTH’S first experiences with the local bar was in lawyer’s league basketball. He enjoyed meeting people, but dreaded having to referee a game. “It’s tough to ref a game with ten lawyers,” he said. “Especially if one of those ten players is a judge. How do you call a foul on a judge?”

A graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law, Smyth is a partner with Smyth & Ciofi, LLP, where he litigates insurance claims and personal injury claims. In addition to having several published articles and numerous speaking credits, Smyth has been listed in both “The Best Lawyers in America” and in “North Carolina Super Lawyers” magazine.

Smyth has been married for many years to his “great and patient” wife, Melissa, and has three daughters, Betsy, Anne Rogers, and Meg. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking in the mountains of Western North Carolina, as well as reading and traveling.

Although he jokingly says that some in the bar may consider the shrimp bowl at the holiday party to be the greatest benefit of membership, Smyth really thinks the best thing about our local bar is the camaraderie. He enjoys older lawyers sharing their stories and advice with younger lawyers, and thinks these relationships are what make our bar a great bar.

President-Elect THOMAS H. DAVIS, JR. Secretary JENNIFER A. MORGAN Treasurer ALLAN B. HEAD Immediate Past President CHRISTIE SPEIR ROEDER Board of Directors P. COLLINS BARWICK III HEIDI C. BLOOM ASHLEY K. BRATHWAITE MADISON (MATT) E. BULLARD, JR. JUDGE LORI G. CHRISTIAN MICHELLE S. COFIELD HOWARD J. CUMMINGS MARK A. FINKELSTEIN STEPHANIE A. GASTON NANCY L. GRACE ROBIN M. HAMMOND ELIZABETH R. HARRISON GREGORY L. HINSHAW THOMAS C. KILPATRICK E. HARDY LEWIS MARIA M. LYNCH STACI T. MEYER R. DONAVON MUNFORD, JR. ASHLEY MATLOCK PERKINSON WILLIAM W. PLYLER PAUL A. SUHR BETTIE KELLEY SOUSA BO THOMPSON THOMAS C. WORTH, JR.

TED EDWARDS Wake County Bar Association President

919.677.9903 phone 919.657.1564 fax

AFTER HEARING HIS PARENTS’ stories about how civil rights attorneys impacted society to make things better, Ted Edwards wanted to be a part of this system. “Whether people want to do the right thing or not, we are controlled by the law,” Edwards said.

Edwards attended Duke both for undergraduate work and law school, although he grew up in Chapel Hill and has a son attending N.C. State. He practices construction law and litigation for Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP and was previously selected as a “Rising Star” by “North Carolina Super Lawyers” and as one of the Triangle Business Journal’s “40 Leaders Under 40.” This past year, Ted was awarded the North Carolina Bar Association’s Citizen Lawyer Award, recognizing his exemplary public service activities.

Edwards and his wife, Tiffany have four children, Trey, Torin, Tyler, and Tanner. He teaches kids in a bible study fellowship and describes himself as a “sports nut,” enjoying Panthers games and Duke basketball. This past summer, Ted Edwards participated in a 150 mile bike ride as part of Tour de Cure, which benefits the American Diabetes Association.

Edwards thinks the best benefit of our bar is that it provides the opportunity to see other lawyers at their best. Although lawyers are often in an adversarial role, in the bar association, they get to know each other as people outside the context of legal representation. When putting the “advocate hat” back on, these relationships with other lawyers make us more effective. WBF

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

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Young Lawyers Division J. T. CROOK ABA Delegate ROGER W. SMITH, SR. Executive Director WHITNEY von HAAM Wake Bar Flyer Editor LUCY AUSTIN © 2012 Wake County Bar Association & Tenth Judicial District Bar.

Next Bar Flyer Deadline: February 15, 2012

Message from the President, continued from the front page spending 120 hours working on one or more pro bono cases during the course of a semester. There is no cost to the attorney and the law student has no expectation of future employment with the attorney. For more information regarding this program please contact Professor Margaret Currin at 919-865-4683 or currin@law.campbell.edu or see their website at http://law.campbell.edu/page.cfm?id=389&n=externship-program.

Finally, the Wake County Bar Association is working with the North Carolina Bar Association’s Call for All Program. The Call for All Program allows attorneys to receive a prescreened referral from Legal Aid and have a telephone conference with the client regarding the client’s legal issue. The attorney is not obligated or expected to undertake representation of the client but only to provide direction to the client during the telephone conference and then to prepare a brief description of the telephone conference to Legal Aid. If the client’s needs cannot be resolved through the telephone conference, the attorney can ask Legal Aid to be assigned the matter but is under no obligation to do so. For more information regarding the Call for All Program please go to the NCBA’s website dedicated to this campaign: http://4allnc.ncbar.org/participate/call-4all.aspx. Note that with all of these volunteer options, the attorney has complete control

on the frequency and types of cases received.

In addition to providing volunteer legal services, there is also an urgent need to contribute money to support Legal Aid. The Wake County Bar Association holds an annual fundraiser to benefit Legal Aid. We are proud that we were able to contribute $20,000 to Legal Aid at the Wake County Bar Awards program in November, and we hope to be able to give more this year. If you would like to make a monetary contribution, please call the WCBA offices at 919-6779903 or go to the following web site http://www.wakecountybar.org/ donations/. We have a call to serve, and Legal Aid needs our help to assist those in our community who are most in need. I am confident that the legal community in Wake County will continue its tradition of service and will respond during this time of great need. I am excited about the upcoming year of service for the Wake County Bar Association. I hope that each attorney will accept the call and step up to meet the challenge that has been put before us. Please feel free to contact me and share your experiences with serving Legal Aid throughout the year. We will be spotlighting some of these experiences in future issues of the Wake County Bar Flyer. WBF

A Window Into Their Times: Historical Notes for the WCBA WAKE COUNTY'S FIRST courthouse was constructed in the early 1770's, shortly after the County was formed in 1771. The County Court met at least twice in Joel Lane's home on his estate, "Bloomsbury", prior to the courthouse's construction. During the Revolution, the first courthouse was a regular rendezvous point for Patriot militia. The second Wake County courthouse was built on Fayetteville Street on the site of the later courthouses, and was first used for court sessions on June 16, 1795, while the building was still undergoing final construction. The first court term in that new courthouse opened on September 21, 1795. WBF SOURCE: Elizabeth Davis Reid Murray, Wake, Capital County of North Carolina

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

Photo courtesy of the Joel Lane Museum House.

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TO EASE ONE LIFE THE ACHING Wake County Bar Association Raleigh, North Carolina | Tuesday, January 10, 2012 MARTIN H. BRINKLEY President, North Carolina Bar Association

I WHEN I BECAME President-Elect of the North Carolina Bar Association a year and a half ago, I looked forward to the prospect of speaking on occasions like this around our state. And as a Wake County lawyer, I was familiar with this venerable tradition of inviting every North Carolina Bar Association President to speak. So I have known for some time this day would come. That knowledge has had as its companions a kind of awe, and not a few twinges of trepidation. What is the aptest analogy? Am I the preacher serving a church in the big city, who has been invited to come home and lead a revival, before a congregation of old friends who knew him as a high school troublemaker? That seems just one step removed from being the prophet without honor in his hometown. Whatever simile is most fitting, I cannot give a worthy account of the sense of honor I feel in standing before you, my friends and colleagues, on this day.

I have been blessed with many mentors in my life and in our profession. A number were or are members of the Wake County bar.

I remain addicted to the occasional early morning coffee in the office of Robert McMillan, which I have known to beat church for spiritual cleansing. And sitting there next to Robert is the living presence of the late, great William Joslin, whom I loved like a father and fairly adored as the king among men that he was. And there are so many of you. Somehow, the world feels like a better place just knowing that the likes of Wade and Roger Smith, John Silverstein, Carlyn Poole, John McMillan, Ed Gaskins, and Ann Reed, to name but a few, are out there twinkling somewhere, stars for life’s sextant when the night is dark and troubles “come not single spies, but in batallions.”

The most formative experience in my development as a lawyer was the year I spent clerking for Chief Judge Sam J. Ervin, III of the Fourth Circuit. Those of you who knew him will attest that Judge Ervin was the soul of modesty and self-deprecation. Where other United States Circuit Judges occupied chambers that would have done honor to a Hapsburg monarch, Judge Ervin worked in a cramped set of basement offices in the cinder block splendors of the Morganton Public Safety Center, within eyeshot of the brick schoolhouse where he had learned to read and write. “See, Martin, I’ve never gotten very far in life,” he used to say. “Only just across the street.”

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

That story is squarely on all fours with my own life so far. I now live maybe a mile from old Rex Hospital, where I first saw the light of day one September when Dan Moore was living in the Governor’s Mansion. I may be one of the last specimens of a breed well on its way to extinction, a sort of dodo or Carolina parakeet. A Wake County native, born, raised and publicly educated, whose ancestors farmed tobacco on the banks of the Neuse River when Fayetteville Street and Glenwood South were laid down to pasture and Raleigh wasn’t even a glint in Joel Lane’s eye. A local boy who got the school lunch menu from Bill Jackson and Maury O’Dell of WPTF at 6:00 a.m., in between Anne Murray’s “Daydream Believer” and Glenn Campbell’s “Southern Nights.” A man who at 6:45 this morning drove my son to the same middle school I attended sometime in the Carter Administration. So I guess I haven’t gotten very far in life either. And that’s OK with me, if it means practicing law with people whose commitment to our profession and our community is a daily comfort and inspiration. People like you. I am grateful to call myself a Wake County lawyer.

It is the tradition on these occasions for presidents to give a sort of seriatim treatment of everything that is going on in our profession, and in the North Carolina Bar Association. Well, we have a lot going on to be sure, but beneath this bow tie there lurks the heart of an unrepentant rebel -- and rebel is precisely what I intend to do today. I am going to talk to you about only one thing, because I think it is the most important thing we are doing, and because in all candor I need your help, my friends and colleagues here in Wake County, to make it a success.

II THREE AND A HALF YEARS AGO, J.K. Rowling delivered a commencement address at Harvard in which she reflected on the time, now famous in accounts of her life, when between jobs she lived on public assistance in Edinburgh while working on the first book in the Harry Potter series. Rowling described what poverty is like: “Being poor,” she said, “is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression. It means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Poverty is only romanticized by fools.”

Here is what is actually happening to thousands of our fellow

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citizens and what is going to happen, during this time when privation and hardship stalk our state. Last winter more than 10,000 homes in North Carolina had no heat and almost twice that number had no indoor plumbing. Fifty thousand families went without food at some point in 2011. More than 1.5 million people – over fifteen percent of our population – have no health insurance. By 2010, 30% more North Carolina families were homeless than in 2007. North Carolina's poverty rate jumped to 17.5% in 2010, a 22% increase since the beginning of the recession in 2007, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Well over a third of North Carolinians are now classified as low income. The stubborn scourge of poverty is inextricably interwoven with the future of our courts, our public schools and other public institutions, the viability of which is crucial to our future.

Poverty is so pervasive in North Carolina that those of us who live lives of privilege have become blind to it. We are more willing than in the past to turn our gaze away from our fellow citizens locked at the bottom of American life. Sometimes we seem to believe that working to end the hardships under which our neighbors suffer will distract us from improving our own privileged situations, and of helping others similarly successful improve theirs. We spend so much time storing up treasures for ourselves on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, that a kind of moral cataract has deprived us of the ability to see the unconscionable deprivation millions of our neighbors endure.

I could tell you stories of real people, honest people, doing the best they can with the hand life has dealt them while staring souldestroying poverty in the face. I am going to do that in a few minutes by showing you a short film. For now, I want to tell you about what we are doing to help and why I need you.

Many of you have volunteered on the telephone lines in the North Carolina Bar Association’s 4All Service Day. On last year’s Service Day we talked with nearly 9,000 North Carolinians in one 12 hour period. After co-chairing the first 4All effort five years ago, I came to the conclusion that the real triumph of 4All has been the lesson every lawyer who takes a shift on the telephones learns in silence. It is this: Talking to a real person, helping him or her sort out hard facts, giving commonsense advice, and above all listening with a warm and beating heart is well within every lawyer’s skill. Discovering that we are capable of bringing the lifting power of our profession to bear on the life of a stranger is a magnificent gift. It gives us the chance, as Emily Dickinson said, “to stop one heart from breaking, to ease one life the aching, to cool one pain, to help a fainting robin unto his nest again – and not to have lived in vain.”

This year, at my request, Debra Foster of Charlotte and Gray Styers of Raleigh are leading an intensified 4All effort known as “Call4All.” This campaign is in addition to the 4All Service Day. Our goal is to persuade 500 North Carolina lawyers to give at least two hours of pro bono service each month to indigent clients who have already been pre-screened as eligible to be represented by Legal Aid of North Carolina. The work involves a telephone interview with the client, after which the lawyer prepares a short memo to LANC describing the facts of the client’s situation and the advice given. Volunteers will be assigned an attorney-mentor from LANC, who will offer real-time support in unfamiliar areas of law. There

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

is no obligation to take the client’s case further than the initial telephone interview. I was the guinea pig for a dry run of Call4All in a landlord-tenant case last year and have handled several cases since.

I have had most pleasant experiences and have been excellently supported by my LANC mentor.

WHAT WILL CALL4ALL ACCOMPLISH? IF WE CAN PERSUADE 500 volunteers to give just two hours a month, we will serve 6,000 clients each year who would otherwise go unserved. We will free up talented LANC in-house lawyers from time consuming triage on these 6,000 cases. That, in turn, will let the LANC lawyers work 6,000 more hours on harder cases and enable them to take on more cases from the millions of North Carolinians who need their help. It will save the strength of LANC, the legal emergency room for more than two million citizens facing imminent threats of violence, risk of a family coming unglued, loss of shelter or income, or the need for medical care. By now I hope you have read about LANC’s forced closing of four local offices in 2011 as a result of a 10% loss of funding from federal and state governments and other sources. It appears their budget situation in 2012 will be even worse.

As a Call4All volunteer, you get to pick the types of cases you are prepared to take, based on a list of LANC’s greatest areas of demand. You handle the client’s call from the comfort of your office.

You set and control the time when you talk to the client, and have the freedom to “pass” on a client when other work demands are heavy.

Your work is covered by malpractice insurance procured by LANC. You will satisfy your Rule 6.1 obligation to provide pro bono services to those unable to pay you. A sign-up form is on the table where you are sitting. I implore you to join the nearly 300 North Carolina lawyers who have already signed up to be Call4All volunteers since late last summer, and who have so far handled 1,031 cases. I beg you to join the fine lawyers of the firm of Wood Jackson PLLC here in Raleigh, all the members of which have signed up.

Based on a survey we took in the fall, these first 300 lawyers have had a rich, rewarding experience. 98% of them reported being satisfied with their Call4All experiences, with 72% reporting that they were “highly satisfied.” The rewards of this work are yours for the taking.

III ONE OF THE GREAT STORIES of our civilization is Homer’s account, in the last book of the Iliad, of the meeting between Priam, King of Troy, and Achilles, the Greek warrior who had slain Priam’s son Hector. You remember how Priam, led by the god Hermes, passes unseen through the Greek battle lines and enters Achilles’ tent, where he kneels before his son’s killer and offers a ransom to carry the dead Hector home for burial.

By taking in his hands the hands that killed his son, Priam af-

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firms the supreme human achievement that is the patient endurance of suffering. Both Priam and Achilles rediscover their identity as human beings from the doomed and heartbreaking situation in which they find themselves.

They remind us all of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which are the only glories of human experience worth talking about.

If we are to live, really live, as lawyers, meeting the needs of our impoverished neighbors offers this very same glory. It will give you what William Faulkner in his Nobel Prize speech called “a life's work in the agony and sweat of the human spirit, not for glory and least of all for profit,” but a chance to handle the materials of that spirit and to recover, every day, your connection to other human beings. If you are to look on another human heart and really see it, even as Achilles and Priam really saw each other for the first time when they sat together on that starry night three thousand years ago, pro bono work is the way to do it.

After the framers of our Constitution finished their work in Philadelphia that sweltering summer of 1787, someone asked Benjamin Franklin just what the Constitutional Convention had produced. He answered: “A Republic – if you can keep it.”

This June, when I my term as President of the North Carolina Bar Association ends, it will have been 20 years since I received my law license. These two decades have been a time of stunning growth in the profitability of private law practice, especially in the country’s largest firms. They have also witnessed the gradual withdrawal of lawyers from public life, from the commitment to the common weal and to service over self, that characterizes our profession at its best.

Those 20 years are the years the locust hath eaten. For our profession, I believe those years of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing delays and supine drift have now come to a close. In their

place we are entering a period of consequences.

To deserve the continuing privilege of membership in a great profession, we must make some very good and selfless decisions over the next five to 10 years. We must put away petty concerns and renew our allegiance to the American constitutional experiment.

We must remember that we are all in this together. We must accept that if our neighbors living in poverty cannot climb their way out of a chasm they never dug, we will all sink together into the abyss. We must learn once and for all to shun the bright lights, the wealth, the false treasures of this world, and cast our lots with those who desperately need people of our gifts, our moral caliber, our outsized hearts. If we fail in this, we will have committed an act of abdication of duty, the consequences of which I do not like to contemplate.

The Great Recession has given us back the world of the possible, in a way that hasn’t been true for at least 40 years. We did not ask for the responsibilities of this time. They are difficult, and filled with contradiction and confusion and seeming impossibility. But improvising in the face of change is exactly what our legal training and experience have prepared us to do, in the great tradition of freedom and law that defines an open society. The opportunity to renew our commitments and remap our lives is a privilege given only to some generations. This time, we have no choice.

Opportunity is here now, clean and shining for our profession.

To ignore it will bring upon us the reproaches of the after time. If we handle the next ten years right, by re-engaging vigorously with the very people who entrust us with this unique and sacred monopoly, I believe history with its flickering lamp will find that today our Golden Age lay ahead of us, and that our decision to recommit ourselves to keeping the republic brought it to life. WBF

POVERTY IS SO PERVASIVE IN NORTH CAROLINA THAT THOSE OF US WHO LIVE LIVES OF PRIVILEGE HAVE BECOME BLIND TO IT ...

IF WE CAN PERSUADE 500 VOLUNTEERS TO GIVE JUST TWO HOURS A MONTH, WE WILL SERVE 6,000 CLIENTS EACH YEAR WHO WOULD OTHERWISE GO UNSERVED.

ARE YOU INSPIRED BY THE PIECE ABOVE? Tired of writing briefs and motions? Take a break to show off your creative side as a writer for the Bar Flyer. THE BAR FLYER IS SEEKING WRITERS to help with articles on the activities and impact of the Wake County Bar Association. Writing provides a great way to get to know the WCBA and its members, and the only requirement is a willingness to serve. Even if you're only interested in writing one or two articles a year, we would love to have you involved. IF INTERESTED, PLEASE E-MAIL LUCY AUSTIN at ltaustinlegal@gmail.com.

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

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Letter to the Editor George R. Hausen, Jr., Esq. Executive Director Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc. www.legalaidnc.org January 20, 2012 Dear Wake County Bar Association Members, Just when we thought the Wake County Bar Awards event couldn’t be any more successful, the next year tops the last. We were thrilled with the outcome of this year’s Wake County Bar Awards. $20,000 makes a vast difference in our community and in the number of people our office can serve.

Thank you for producing this terrific event and for the WCBA's extraordinary generosity and support for Legal Aid of North Carolina. It is only through such strong local support that Legal Aid is able to serve so many of the most economically challenged households and families in Wake County.

A special thank you is extended to those closely involved in putting together and participating in the creative and spirited production that so many enjoyed. There is so much work and planning that goes into creating such an event, and, as always, it was a fantastic and boldly entertaining effort.

As you know, LANC is a non-profit law firm that provides life-changing solutions to critical legal issues faced by our most vulnerable fellow citizens.

The median household income for LANC clients last year was just $11,000.

Through our programs, women and children are protected from living with violence in the home; elderly persons are protected from foreclosure, eviction and homelessness; health care is provided to children in desperate need of medical attention; and financial stability is maintained for many families facing an economic crisis. Providing access to high-quality legal assistance to protect basic needs is the day-to-day work of Legal Aid attorneys in Wake County and across North Carolina as a whole. This year our budget has been pummeled by federal and state cuts, and we have had to close four offices and cut more than 30 positions statewide. We, nevertheless, with the financial and pro bono support of the private bar, remain undeterred in our efforts to make access to our legal system a reality for all, regardless of their economic status.

Thank you, again, for working hard to make Legal Aid of North Carolina and our clients a priority of the WCBA, and for your support of the Access to Justice Campaign in Wake County.

Sincerely, Victor Boone George Hausen, Jr. Senior Managing Attorney, Executive Director, LANC Wake County Office

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

THANK YOU again to the sponsors of The [Second Degree] Bar Awards, held November 15, 2011 FIRST DEGREE SPONSOR Martin & Jones SECOND DEGREE SPONSORS Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Company Lawyers Insurance Agency SunTrust Investment Services Westlaw/Thomson Reuters THIRD DEGREE SPONSORS Nexsen Pruet Smith Moore Leatherwood Yates McLamb & Weyher, L.L.P. FOURTH DEGREE SPONSORS Graebe Hanna & Welborn PLLC The Jernigan Law Firm K&L Gates Manning Fulton Poyner Spruill Schuette Law of North Raleigh Smith Anderson Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP FIFTH DEGREE SPONSORS Hunton & Williams LLP Tacker LeCarpentier/Lawyers Structured Settlements Tom Blue - Ellis & Winters LLP IN KIND DONORS Capital Letters Mort’s Trophies Merritt Videoworks Trader Joe’s

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Identify Your Strengths

BY CAMILLE STELL THE NEW YEAR is often a time when people focus on goals. This typically involves identifying our weaknesses and developing a plan to fix them. According to the Proactive Change website, only 46% of us are maintaining our resolutions after six months. Why? Change is hard. There are many steps you can implement into the goal setting process to be more successful in keeping your resolutions, but what if we re-think the paradigm? Instead of identifying our weaknesses, what if we identify our strengths?

I recommend reading Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. The research isn’t new; more than a decade ago, Gallup unveiled the results of a 30-year research project resulting in Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment. The Tom Rath book followed in 2007.

The Gallup poll statistics show that people who have the opportunity to focus on their strengths everyday are “six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general.” These statistics would suggest that by identifying your strengths, and make sure you are playing to them in career choice and work place, that you can increase your chances of having an excellent quality of life.

Further, Rath provides a chart that shows the following: If your manager primarily:

The chances of your being actively disengaged are:

Ignores you

40%

Focuses on your weaknesses

22%

Focuses on your strengths

1%

In other words, having a manager (or if you are an associate, a partner who delegates work to you) who ignores you is more detrimental than having a manager who primarily focuses on your weaknesses.

However, if you have a manager who focuses on your strengths by recognizing the value you bring to your workplace or team, there is almost no chance that you will find yourself feeling detached from your tasks or your team.

Wouldn’t it be more rewarding to identify what you do well and polish it or put it into action than to drag out those same old weaknesses? As an example, one of my strengths is communication. Here is what Rath says about the person for whom communication is a strength: “You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. . . You feel a need to bring them (ideas) to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act.”

Is it a coincidence that I write and do public speaking for a living? No. In my job, I play to my strengths daily. That explains why I am energized by what I do and why I can’t wait to arrive at work each day.

Can you imagine your law firm if you (and every employee) felt energized by what you do? A certain result would be happier clients and more referrals from them. What can you do to promote this type of work environment? How about re-thinking work teams? Instead of every associate, legal assistant or paralegal job description being the same, group people by strengths. Some individuals might be better at the details (lots of projects benefit from this strength) while others are more outward focusing (perhaps these individuals assist with client intake and client communication). How about if during your annual review process, rather than focus on constructive criticisms, you focus on identifying employee strengths and determine how to use those for the benefit of the firm.

A follow-up project is the Rath book, Strengths Based Leadership. Based on the initial Gallup research and more than 20,000 interviews, Rath and co-author, leadership consultant Barry Conchie, identify three keys to being a more effective leader: knowing your strengths and investing in other’s strengths, getting people with the right strengths on your team, and understanding and meeting the four basic needs of those who look to you for leadership.

Read the book, for as Benjamin Franklin said, “Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?” WBF

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

CAMILLE STELL is the Director of Client Services for Lawyers Mutual.

Recently selected as a Lawyers Weekly 2011 “Leaders in the Law” award recipient, Camille has more than 20 years of experience in the legal field, as a paralegal, legal recruiter and business developer.

Contact Camille at 800.662.8843 or Camille@lawyers mutualnc.com.

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Sallie Kearns’ Tournament Comes to a Close with a Final Foundation Gift WHEN SALLIE KEARNS RETIRED earlier in 2011, she agreed to hold a final Sallie Kearns’ Veteran’s Day Golf Tournament, proceeds to support the Wake County Bar Association Foundation’s Scholarship Fund.

The beloved tournament was held on Friday, November 11, and this year raised another $5,425 to the WCBA Foundation Fund for law students from Wake County. The addition of this year’s proceeds rounds out Sallie’s total for these many years to almost $100,000.

We couldn’t have done it without you, Sallie. Thank you for your tireless effort to help raise funds for this important mission!

WCBA Luncheon Schedule All meetings are scheduled to begin at 12:15 p.m., with the program starting at 12:45 p.m.

February 7 – Woman’s Club March 6 – Woman’s Club April 3 – Woman’s Club May 1 – Mordecai Park June 5 – Woman’s Club July 10 – North Raleigh Hilton August – No Meeting September – No Meeting October 2 – North Raleigh Hilton November 6 – The Woman’s Club December 4 – North Raleigh Hilton (Tenth Judicial District Bar Annual Meeting)

Tort Lawyer Tuesday IN AN EFFORT to maintain our camaraderie and small Bar flavor, the WCBA invites the tort/insurance/litigation attorneys to an informal after work get together at the

REHAB WITHOUT THE PAPARAZZI

BY BETTIE KELLEY SOUSA | SMITH DEBNAM LAWYERS SUPPORT COMMITTEE LINDSAY LOHAN’S GOT NOTHING ON ME. Well, okay, since she doesn’t have to park in Timbuktu, negotiate scaffolding, and bring a rolling briefcase up the courthouse stairs, she can bounce all cutie pie from curb to door and get international press coverage of her un-coverage. But, despite her red carpet courthouse treatment, Lindsay has yet to learn the skills to clean up her act without paying mega bucks to enter rehab. That’s why you and I can thumb our noses at her.

We have BarCARES, a program that is free for up to three visits a year for all lawyers in the Tenth Judicial District, and also for family members of WCBA members. The wonderful folks at Human Resource Consultants are available to help us with our troubles and to direct us to other resources for our rehab needs.

And don’t think you have to be a drug addict or an alcoholic to need a little help. Most of the lawyers who take advantage of the BarCARES program are suffering from depression, anxiety, and other normal everyday problems that have simply gotten to the point that they are brave enough to address them. We know how many take advantage of this freebie, and we know why they say they do, but we don’t know who. We just know that because Lindsay Lohan is not a member of the Tenth Judicial District, she hasn’t done it. BarCARES -- it’s there if you need it.

Lindsay, stay away. WBF

Wake Women Attorneys WAKE WOMEN ATTORNEYS invites you to attend its upcoming monthly luncheon on February 9, 2012. Lunch is held at noon at Sitti located at 137 S Wilmington St. Raleigh, N.C. 27601. Telephone: (919)239-4070.

Our speaker for February will be Judge Linda McGee. Judge Linda McGee is the second most senior judge on the N.C. Court of Appeals, having served on the Court for the past sixteen years. She is a member of the Chief Justice’s Access to Justice Commission and serves as a trustee on the N.C. IOLTA Board. Judge McGee has co-chaired the NCBA Law-Related Education Committee and is past chair of the Civic Education Consortium at the UNC School of Government. Prior to serving on the Court, Judge McGee practiced law in Boone for17 years. She is an emeritus member of the N.C. Board of Law Examiners and a founding member of the N.C. Association of Women Attorneys. WBF

PLAYER’S RETREAT (“P.R.”) 105 OBERLIN ROAD, RALEIGH TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2012 5:00 – 7:00 P.M. Come meet your friends, your competitors, your adversaries, your peers. Get some free advice, settle a case, compare notes, place a face with a name, and make some new friends. DUTCH TREAT. Sign up online at www.wakecountybar.org.

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

North Raleigh Office Space Sharing I am looking for one to two solo practitioners with complementary law practices to share fully furnished Class A office space at 6500 Creedmoor Road. Includes 10x12 window office, reception, large conference room, file foom, kitchen. Contact Bob Crawford at 919-510-8140 or email at bcrawford@crawfordlaw.biz.

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WAKE COUNTY LAWYERS MOVE TO STRIKE! THE THIRD SEASON of the WCBA Bowling League ended November 15. All 10 teams and 40+ bowlers celebrated a successful season with wings, beer and pizza, bowling alley style!

Rolling Thunder, comprised of Teague Campbell attorneys Dayle Flammia, Bruce Hamilton, Bryan Simpson and Megan Baldwin, edged out a victory over George Dennis, Matt Skidmore, Becky Rausch and Brian Love, also of Teague Campbell, to take a commanding hold of first place, knocking their firm members into third place. Well Hung Jury, comprised of Jeremy Hitch, Chris Mann, Josh Whitaker, Quinn Weasley, and Mitch Brewer, all of McCullers & Whitaker, won 3 of the last 4 points to catapult themselves into second place.

Individual honors went to Christopher Knors of Moore & Van Allen for men’s high scratch game, Chris Mann for men’s high scratch series, Al Ripley of the NC Justice Center for men’s high handicap game and Jeremy Hitch for men’s high handicap series. For the ladies, Mallory Williams of Lewis & Roberts took women’s high scratch game, Brook Dalrymple of Howard, Stallings, From & Huston for women’s high scratch series, Becky Rausch for women’s high handicap game, and Megan Baldwin for women’s high handicap series.

Thanks again to everyone who participated and to Pleasant Valley Lanes for a terrific third season. We look forward to the fourth season next year – stay tuned for updates from Chris Mann, the new commissioner! WBF PHOTO CAPTIONS (FROM TOP TO BOTTOM) A group representing the cream of the crop: individual honors went to Mallory Williams, Al Ripley, Chris Knors, Jeremy Hitch, Megan Baldwin and Chris Mann.

Well Hung Jury eked into second place, including team members Quinn Weasley, Chris Mann, Jeremy Hitch and Mitch Brewer.

Representing the third place team, bowlers from Teague Campbell, George Dennis and Brian Love.

Victorious team Rolling Thunder, proudly representing Teague Campbell, included Brian Simpson, Dayle Flammia, Megan Baldwin and Bruce Hamilton.

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

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Breakfast Discussion Series: What You Need to Know about Practicing Law in the Wake County Courthouse on January 25 THE BENCH-BAR COMMITTEE invites all Wake County lawyers to a Dutch-treat discussion at The Mecca on Wednesday, January 25, beginning at 7:30 a.m. The panel will include: (1) The Honorable Paul Gessner, Superior Court of Wake County; (2) The Honorable Vince Rozier, District Court of Wake County; (3) The Honorable Lorrin Freeman, Clerk of Superior Court of Wake County; and (4) Ms. Kristen Fetter, Trial Court Administrator of Wake County. The program will follow the format of the discussion breakfast on improving courtroom civility that the Bench-Bar Committee hosted at The Mecca in April 2011. That breakfast featured an open discussion among a standing-room-only crowd of members of the bench and bar who approached the topic from a variety of experience levels. All Tenth members are invited - Breakfast is Dutch Treat and will include either a breakfast buffet for $8 or you may just join us for coffee and orange juice - it's up to you! To sign up, click on the calendar item at http://www.wakecountybar.org.

Free WCBA CLE | February 23 The Healing Place for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Awareness If you need to get your substance abuse hour in before the end of February, there is no better place to do it than at The Healing Place. An incredible program that boasts a 70% success rate at changing people’s lives. Find out what they are doing right to help uplift the Wake County community.

When: Thursday, February 23 Time: 4 – 5:30 p.m.

Where: The Healing Place, 1251 Goode Street, Raleigh WCBA members are free, and non-members can attend for $30/hour ($45) for this one and a half hour program. Sign up at www.wakecountybar.org. Click on the Feb. 23 item on our calendar.

WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

BarCARES:

Confidential Attorney Resource and Enrichment Services Attorney Coverage | A Benefit of Your Tenth Judicial District Membership Family Member Coverage | A Benefit of WCBA Membership

Confidential | Free | Professional Assistance With Personal Issues

• • • • • • • •

Individual Emotional Stress Interpersonal Stress/Conflict Physical Symptoms of Stress Marital/Family Problems Substance Abuse Retirement Issues Personal Financial Concerns Medical Problems

Professional Issues

• • • • • • •

Job Dissatisfaction or Job Matching Problems Substandard Performance Office Communication Intra-firm Conflict Career Reassessment Attorney Performance Evaluations Professional Financial Concerns

Call 1-800-640-0375 | 24 Hours Per Day In Wake County, you can also call 919-929-1227

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WAKE BAR FLYER • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

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