Chair’s Update: Checking In With the Paralegal Division Council

By Leslie Pegram

As we near the mid-point of the 2018-2019 Bar year, I’d like to share how to the Paralegal Division Council has been working for and on behalf of PD members.  We have a great group of volunteers serving as leaders on our many Committees and on the Council.  I’m grateful for each volunteer member that has made a commitment to share their energy and talents with the Division.  A lot of volunteer hours go into each program and event created for Division members.  I’d like to share a few highlights and updates from the Council’s meetings to date.

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Court Rules Insured Has Duty To Read Insurance Policy Sooner Rather Than Later

By Susan Boyles

In a recent case involving claims against an insurance broker, Judge Graham Mullen firmly put the burden of reviewing an insurance policy and understanding coverage exclusions on the insured.  Granting summary judgment for the broker on the insured’s negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims, the Court declared that the insured’s claims were time-barred because it had a duty to check its coverage when it first received the policy – not years later when a claim arose.

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41st Annual Bankruptcy Institute Recap

By Brian R. Anderson

As Co-Chair for the Bankruptcy Section’s CLE Committee, I wanted to say a few words about the 41st Annual Bankruptcy Institute before we set our sights on next year.

First, I want to say thank you to all of the speakers who volunteered their time and expertise to make the Institute a success.  As many of you know, researching an issue, drafting a manuscript, and preparing a presentation that is both timely and interesting is a time-consuming process.  Collectively, our speakers prepared program materials totaling over 1000 pages! These materials are a tremendous resource for a plethora of issues.  All of our speakers did a tremendous job.

 

The 41st Annual Bankruptcy Institute CLE programs are available via video replay or on demand through the NCBA website at this link.

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Register Now For ACBD CLE/Annual Meeting Feb. 7 In Cary

The Antitrust & Complex Business Disputes Law Section Annual Meeting and CLE, titled “The Complex Issues Arising in Complex Litigation” will be Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, at the North Carolina Bar Center.

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Pro Bono Committee Aims To Recognize, Award, Train and Engage

April Giancola

Emily Moseley

April Giancola and Emily Moseley are both honored and excited to co-chair the NCBA Pro Bono Committee this year.  

April Giancola is the Director of Public Interest Advising at UNC School of Law. Since joining the career development office in April 2016 she counsels students and alumni on all aspects of job searching and career development, with a particular interest in issues relating to public interest, government and pro bono. Since earning her J.D. from New England School of Law in Boston in 2000, Giancola has worked as a trial attorney at the Public Defender’s Office in Phoenix, as the Director of Legal Services at Our Place DC in Washington, DC, and as the Volunteer and Training Coordinator at the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center. After moving to North Carolina in 2007, she was the Post-Conviction Managing Attorney for North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services and served as the Chief Legal Program Officer for Disability Rights NC. She has been active in the Pro Bono Activities Committees of both the NC Bar Association and the NC Equal Access to Justice Commission. She is admitted to the bars of Arizona, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia and North Carolina.

Emily Moseley is a member at Strategic Health Law, where her work includes counseling health plans that sponsor Medicare Advantage, Medicare Prescription Drug, and Medicaid Managed Plans. After completing a two-year clerkship for the Honorable Jennifer Coffman of the United States District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky, Moseley entered private practice with Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP (then Kilpatrick Stockton), in Raleigh, North Carolina where she worked on complex business disputes, as well as healthcare and regulatory matters from 2000 to 2010, when she joined Strategic Health Law. Moseley received a B.A. from Pomona College, graduating cum laude in 1995. She graduated from Vanderbilt Law School in 1998, where she was Executive Research Editor of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. Moseley has an AVR peer rating through Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating given by that organization. She has also been named a “Woman of Justice” by Lawyers’ Weekly, in recognition for her extensive and dedicated pro bono practice.

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Copyright Update: Music Modernization Act

By Jacquelyn D. Knapp

Last month, the Music Modernization Act (MMA) was signed into law. This copyright legislation modernizes some aspects of copyright law and applies to songwriters, music publishers, digital music providers, music streaming services, and others that distribute and create music. The MMA received support from Republicans, Democrats, and music industry stakeholders alike. The MMA includes three parts, and benefits both music creators as well as digital music providers.

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Works For Me Episode 3: Unlawful Employee Terminations

In our third episode of “Works For Me,” our team hashes out the basics of unlawful employee termination. We’ll take on three issues, from the employer and employee sides:

  • What is at-will employment?
  • For what reasons can an employer fire someone?
  • What can do you do if you believe you’ve been fired unlawfully?

Please tune in and let us know what you think. You can email Grant at [email protected].

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SCOTUS Interprets the ADEA to Apply to State Entities Regardless of Size

By Zachary Anstett

Last week the Supreme Court held in Mt. Lemmon Fire District v. Guido, No. 17-587, 2018 WL 5794639 (U.S. Nov. 6, 2018), that state and local governments are “employers” covered by the ADEA regardless of their size. The unanimous opinion authored by Justice Ginsburg affirmed the Ninth Circuit’s decision that 29 U.S.C. § 630(b)’s two sentence structure and the expression “also means” at the start of the second sentence establish separate categories of what it means to be an “employer” under the ADEA. The unanimous decision did not include Justice Kavanaugh.

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Is a Password Enough To Keep Your Sensitive Information Safe?

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By Catherine Sanders Reach

Are you using two factor authentication? You should be! Passwords alone are not enough anymore to thwart motivated hackers from accessing your accounts, whether by a keystroke logger infection on your computer or a data breach of the systems you use every day online. Two factor authentication, or two step verification, adds strength to your passwords by using something you know (your password) and something you have. The “something you have” is often a code sent separately to a mobile phone via text. Without the code you will not be able to login to an online account on a device you have not previously trusted. Ostensibly it would also thwart anyone who had your password as well. You can turn on two factor authentication in most online accounts by going into your privacy and security settings.

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Civility and Sanity: A CLE To Help Lawyers Maintain Both

By Lucy Inman

In an age abounding with public and private incivility, division, and discrimination, how can lawyers and judges promote professional behavior? And when individual struggles with stress and depression make news every day, how can we recognize and respond to warning signs in ourselves and others? “A Most Stressful Profession: Promoting Civility and Sanity in Your Practice,” a daylong CLE happening Dec. 7, will address those situations we usually don’t talk about.

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