In January 2022, the North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center will launch a voluntary Paralegal Pro Bono Reporting process for the first time. While there is no requirement for paralegals to offer pro bono services in North Carolina, there is an ethical responsibility for attorneys to do so under North Carolina Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1, and Guideline 10 of the ABA Model Guidelines for Utilization of Paralegal Services states that “[a] lawyer who employs a paralegal should facilitate the paralegal’s participation in appropriate continuing education and pro bono publico activities.” Rule 6.1 encourages North Carolina attorneys to provide at least fifty (50) hours of legal services per year at no cost to individuals of limited means and/or charitable or other organizations that serve individuals of limited means. These lawyers who provide at least fifty (50) hours of these types of volunteer services in a year are recognized through the North Carolina Attorney Pro Bono Honor Society. For the first time, paralegals who meet these requirements will have a similar venue for recognition – the North Carolina Paralegal Pro Bono Honor Society.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Paralegalshttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngParalegals2021-12-06 14:36:382021-12-06 15:30:47Introducing the North Carolina Paralegal Pro Bono Honor Society
NCBA Paralegal Division Special Nomination Committee
The Notification
On June 23, 2021, the North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification (hereinafter “Board”) notified the Paralegal Division (hereinafter “division”) of a call for nominations pursuant to 27 N.C.A.C. Chapter 1G – Section .0105 to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Board.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Paralegalshttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngParalegals2021-08-16 15:22:102021-08-16 15:50:52Kernodle-Hodges Receives the Paralegal Division's Endorsement for the NCSB Board of Paralegal Certification
Welcome to all our division members. Thanks to all who have served and will serve! I am honored to serve as the 2021-2022 Paralegal Division Chair. Last year, our division worked during unprecedented times and continued to advance its mission and achieved many goals. The Paralegal Council and its committees served our members and communities through countless virtual social events, assisted with pro bono services projects, membership giveaways, and scholarships.
The division’s success is an attribute of the hard work of our Paralegal Council Committees and our members’ participation. The Paralegal Council has 13 committees — Bylaws, Continued Paralegal Education, Diversity and Inclusion, Ethics, Long Range Planning, Membership, Paralegal Student Relations, Pro Bono, Publication/Blog (Communications), Section Liaisons, Survey, Technology, and Utilization. Our members are encouraged to get involved by investing time to serve on any committee of interest to them. Check out the bylaws on the division’s community page for committee descriptions.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Paralegalshttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngParalegals2021-07-29 16:00:072021-07-30 10:34:38Welcome, Division Members
In August 2021, the North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center (NCPBRC) will partner with the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court’s Office and SelfServe Center, as well as the Charlotte DA’s and PD’s Offices, to offer advice regarding applicants’ eligibility for expunction relief under North Carolina law. Applicants will meet with a volunteer attorney to learn whether they are eligible or ineligible for relief.
This will be the fourth clinic of its kind. The previous three were held in October 2019, June 2020, and February 2021. For the first time, the project contemplates recruiting paralegal volunteers to review records and prepare petitions in advance of the clinic. Each petition should take about 15 minutes to prepare, and approximately 60 clients are expected to be eligible for relief. Virtual training will be provided by NCPBRC and partner staff.
I became a paralegal a few years ago, not as a recent college graduate nor as my first profession, but as someone looking for divine intervention.
My younger self was a stay-at-home mom until my divorce. At the time, I was determined to support myself, and against the advice of my attorney, did not ask for alimony. Maybe not a great idea in retrospect, but knowing myself, I would most likely do it again. I did not have a college degree and had not worked outside of my home in over ten years. I was lucky, though; I found a job in New York City working for an oil broker. Within a year, I was the Office Manager. When they decided to move to Miami, I handled the logistics of moving the office, the brokers, and their families, as well as mine. Being a single Mom in an unfamiliar city, five hundred miles from all that I knew, I was miserable; I missed my family and friends. I connected with someone that knew someone, and as luck would have it, found a job immediately back in Midtown Manhattan. Back then, you could make a decent living without a college education. It was a different time. However, internally, I frequently felt “less than.”
Alicia Mitchell-Mercer has been selected to receive the 2021 Distinguished Paralegal Award. The award will be presented at the 2021 NCBA Annual Meeting, which will take place virtually on Thursday and Friday, June 17-18. Mitchell-Mercer will be honored during the Awards & Recognitions Presentation on Thursday, June 17, at 5 p.m.
Mitchell-Mercer received a B.S. in Paralegal Studies from Charter Oak State College and an M.S. in Project Management from Missouri State University. She has earned paralegal certifications from NALA (ACP), NFPA (RP), the South Carolina Bar (SCCP), and the North Carolina State Bar (NCCP).
She holds advanced paralegal certifications in trial practice, contracts administration, e-discovery, and business organizations: incorporated entities from NALA. She is certified by the International Institute of Legal Project Management (IILPM) as a Legal Project Practitioner and by the Scrum Alliance as a Certified ScrumMaster.
Mitchell-Mercer works in Charlotte as a legal project manager and paralegal at Brown & Associates, PLLC and as a legal project manager consultant at Lex Project Management Consulting Group using traditional and Agile methodologies. She is a securities arbitrator with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Mitchell-Mercer is very involved in the legal community. She focuses her efforts on causes that advance the proper utilization of paralegals, access to justice, and that support the well-being of children.
She serves as the Communications Chair for the NCBA Paralegal Division, a role she has held for three years. She is the Chair of the division’s Technology Committee and the Publications Committee. She previously served as a member of the Paralegal Division Council (2015) and a participant in the Internet and Regulations Task Force (2016).
Mitchell-Mercer is currently serving on NALA’s Continuing Education Council which is charged with planning conference education sessions; developing, coordinating, and facilitating continuing education programs and certification review courses; and producing Facts & Findings magazine.
She is a Guardian ad Litem for abused and neglected children in the 26th Judicial District and was recently appointed to the North Carolina State Bar’s Subcommittee Studying Regulatory Change.
Mitchell-Mercer teaches CLEs and contributes to legal publications on the topic of legal project management and lives in Charlotte with her husband and son. She enjoys reading, traveling abroad, and time spent by the ocean. She also volunteers with Autism Speaks, Compassion International, and Central Church of God in Charlotte.
Previous recipients of the Distinguished Service Award were (2008) Teresa L. Bowling, (2010) Virginia M. Burrows, (2011) Phyllis M. Hines, (2012) Stephanie C. Crosby, (2013) Kaye H. Summers, (2014) Sarah Hall Kaufman, (2015) Yolanda N. Smith, (2016) Wanda Pitts Nicholson, (2017) Alicia Lewis of Raleigh, (2018) Sarah L. White and (2019) Lakisha Chichester.
Paralegal Spotlight is the division’s monthly publication designed to share division members’ stories with colleagues, inspire present and future paralegal professionals, and strengthen awareness of the profession and association.
Each month we select one amazing paralegal from among our membership and ask them to share a little about their personal and professional life. Join Paralegal Spotlight as we learn more about member talents, skills, personal and professional goals, technology tips, accomplishments, volunteer work, and more.
This month’s Paralegal Spotlight is on Laurie Hayden, a Corporate and Estate Administration Paralegal at Patrick Harper & Dixon L.L.P. in Hickory, North Carolina.
Frequently, legal professionals find themselves in a dual role – leaders and managers. While there are many similarities between those two roles, the primary distinction is that a leader focuses more on people while a manager focuses more on the technical aspects of completing a project. Legal professionals need both skill sets to be effective in their organizations.
If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this. Leaders are thermostats. They set the temperature of their organization. Staff, volunteers, and team members are thermometers. They read the temperature of their organization. This “setting” and “reading” of temperatures is your organizational culture. It affects how your members work together. Organizational culture can be an engine propelling a mission forward or a blockade stifling every opportunity for improvement. To create a healthy work environment, legal professionals must create and maintain a functional organizational culture that is informed, effective, respectful, candid, compassionate, and just. Read more
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Paralegalshttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngParalegals2021-05-11 11:03:302021-05-11 11:03:42Elephants in Legal Organizations: Gossip and Destructive Politics
As of April 2019, there were over 1,225,000 active license suspensions in the state of North Carolina related to unpaid traffic fines and failure to appear in court.[1] Even more disheartening is that poverty and systemic racism, rather than a willful refusal to appear in court or to pay fines, are the driving factors of a majority of these suspensions.
The statewide suspension rate of Black or African American drivers is four times higher than that of white, non-Hispanic drivers. This racial disparity is higher in some counties, both urban and rural. For example, in Wake County, the suspension rate for Black or African American drivers is seven times higher than that of white, non-Hispanic drivers. In Rowan and Cabarrus counties, it’s more than five times higher. In Watauga County, it’s almost seven times higher. These findings are based on all available data.[2]
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Paralegalshttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngParalegals2021-05-05 12:29:552021-05-05 16:46:16Volunteer for the Paralegal Division Virtual Driver’s License Event on June 8, 2021
Beginning this summer, the Judicial Branch will implement Odyssey, a statewide electronic-filing and case-management system. The system will be made available across the state in phases over the next few years. Among other things, the amendments adopted by the Supreme Court define electronic filing in counties with Odyssey.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Paralegalshttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngParalegals2021-04-26 16:28:042021-05-05 16:46:39The Supreme Court of North Carolina Adopts Electronic-Filing Rules for the Implementation of eCourts
By Rachel Royal 
By 
By 
By the Communications Committee 