Works For Me Episode 1: Employment Law 101

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By Grant Osborne

The NCBA’s Labor & Employment Law Section is proud to introduce the first episode of our new podcast “Works for Me.” It couldn’t have happened without the encouragement and unflagging support of Julianne Dambro, now the NCBA Director of Communities, Ann Anderson, the chair of our Section during 2017-18, Amber Nimocks, NCBA Digital Media Manager, and many other skilled and patient people with the NCBA.

I wondered, a few years ago, why our Section hadn’t developed a podcast about employment law for the benefit of the public and attorneys who don’t practice in the field. Those of us who know the practice area know that it’s an engaging and ceaselessly evolving subject that, perhaps more than most, touches almost everyone, whether as an employer or employee. Many people wonder about how the law of the workplace actually, well, works. Podcasts provide a convenient and entertaining way to teach subjects that, whether because complex, arcane, or both, can become flat-out dull if presented in the wrong way. A podcast devoted to a captivating subject drawn from an inexhaustible supply of material, with what seemed to be a ready and wide audience, looked like a sure bet. I can’t say that no similar podcasts existed, but the space was hardly saturated. So why hadn’t our Section created one?

Now I know.

Twain said that “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” One could say the same of a podcast. Nothing about it, if you want it to be any good, is extemporaneous.

The content must be identified, developed and polished. The presenters must write, coordinate and prepare. The technicians must help the presenters sound minimally competent (a challenging task if the presenters, as in our case, are neophytes), package the content for publication (with enough production values so that it doesn’t sound like the work of dilettantes) and publish it. None of that happens without persistent and time-consuming work. With that said, our first ship has sailed, staffed by Nina Pirrotti of Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti in Wilmington; my partner Will Oden of Ward and Smith, and me.

Our goals for Season One of the podcast are modest. We hope, first, to develop topical material that will inform and entertain; second, to present voices and perspectives that are as rich and diverse as today’s workplace; and third, to generate enough “buzz” about the podcast to create and maintain an audience that will listen to and come to rely on it as a source of insight about workplace law that they can’t readily find elsewhere. OK, maybe not that modest. So, to accomplish all that, we’ll need your help. Please tune in and let us know what you think. My email address is [email protected]. Bill Nye says – accurately – that “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” So please let us hear from you.

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Avoid a Benchslap: Four Writing Tips You Ignore At Your Peril

By Abigail Perdue

Above the Law’s founder, David Lat, has been credited with coining the term “benchslap” in 2004.[1] It generally refers to a particularly scathing insult from a judge to an attorney, litigant, or on occasion, another judge.

Benchslaps occur in many forms and for many reasons. For example, in Mannheim Video v. County of Cook, a Seventh Circuit panel “benchslapped” counsel by pointing out that the “ostrich-like tactic of pretending that potentially dispositive authority against a litigant’s contention does not exist is as unprofessional as it is pointless.”[2] Likewise, in denying a motion for disqualification, a U.S. District Court Judge concluded that the Defendants “aspire[d] to be magicians. . . . [L]ike David Copperfield’s tricks, their motion [was] nothing but smoke and mirrors.”[3] He expressed doubt that counsel had “adequately research[ed] the case law”[4] and warned them to “think twice before filing such a baseless motion” or “risk being sanctioned.”[5]

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And in the blink of an eye, it’s over… 

By Debbie Harris

The 2017-2018 Bar year flew by, and the Paralegal Division accomplished many great things. On behalf of the Paralegal Division Council, we hope the following summary will make you proud to be one of more than 1,600 members across the state. Allow me to share some highlights from the year:

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Paralegal Division

We celebrated our 20th Anniversary at our Paralegal Division Annual Meeting (reception and conference) May 3 and 4 in Pinehurst. THANK YOU to everyone who attended! We had a wonderful offering of CPE programs including General Sessions on “How to Assist Lawyers in Transition” and “Ethics and Professionalism for the Modern Paralegal.” Additionally, our breakout sessions included the “North Carolina Identity Theft Protection Act,” “Hot Topics with the Secretary of State,” “Updates to the Uniform Power of Attorney Act,” “What Would Lincoln Do” (which shared timeless ethics lessons preserved in historical documents), “Employment in the Age of Social Media,” “Care and Feeding of Court Personnel,” and many other great topics.

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