Lawyer’s Hopeful Essays an Antidote To Modern Cynicism

By Amber Nimocks

For anyone who has ever fought in vain to quiet all the little voices in their head so they can get something accomplished, Sean Doyle offers an alternative: Let them speak.

That’s what Doyle, an attorney and consulting psychologist, has done in his new book of personal essays, “Mud and Dreams,” a collection of small stories and memories that build upon one another to form a powerful call to embrace the world with positivity and love.

In addition to a law degree from Loyola University, Doyle holds a master’s degree in positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves as general counsel to RTP-based MCNC, a position he balances alongside writing, teaching, working as a well-being consultant and serving on NC BarCARES Board of Directors and the NCBA’s Professional Wellness Committee. All of these pursuits inform “Mud and Dreams,” a tidy book that is part memoir, part personal growth manual and impossible to read in public because it will make you cry like a small child.

Read more

/by

Jan. 25 Is the Date For Section CLE and Annual Meeting

We are less than one week away from the Corporate Counsel Section’s CLE and Annual Meeting.  Kicking off our agenda will be our general counsel roundtable, which will speak to our theme “Taking Care of Business: How Good Lawyers Become Great Business Partners” from a leadership perspective.

Join us Friday, Jan. 25 at the Bar Center in Cary or live via webcast. Get more details and register here.

Some of the topics our panelists will discuss include:

  • How to structure an efficient department
  • Making the business case for technology tools and additional staff
  • Outside Counsel selection
  • Contract Management processes and tools
  • Being a legal department of one
  • Working with the Board of Directors
  • Establishing partnerships within the C-Suite

This panel features a group of GCs with diverse experience and knowledge.  Joining us for the discussion will be:

  • Scott Duggan, SVP-General Counsel and Secretary of The Fresh Market: Scott joined TFM just prior to its 2010 IPO and helped build a robust Board of Directors which included leaders of well-known retail and life-style brands.  Scott also leads TFM’s real estate, development and facilities functions and recently wrapped up his second stint as interim head of human resources for TFM’s nearly 12,000 employees in 24 states.
  • Stacy Gray, General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Belk, Inc.:  Stacy is on the Boards of the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association and the Charlotte Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel.  Stacy was named by the Charlotte Business Journal as a nominee for the 2018 Outstanding General Counsel Award and the winner of the 2016 40 Under 40 Award.  The Charlotte Business Journal awarded the Belk legal team the 2018 Outstanding In-House Legal Department.
  • Paul Griffin, General Counsel for The Select Group, LLC:  In 2013, Paul joined The Select Group (an international technical services firm) and started the legal department from scratch for the fast-growing company.  Paul’s accolades include acceptance into the 2016 North Carolina Bar Association Leadership Academy, recognition in 2019 Business NC’s Legal Elite, 2014 Triangle Business Journal Corporate Counsel of the Year Rising Star award, and 2014 Outstanding Young Alumnus of the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business.
  • The panel will be moderated by Jill Louis, a partner in the Dallas office of K&L Gates, LLP. She concentrates her practice on various aspects of private equity representation. She also advises on the creation and implementation of contract management processes for companies. Prior to joining K&L Gates, Jill was the general counsel for a large private equity portfolio company with over US$1 billion in annual revenue.

The panel will also explore the importance of exuding executive presence in one’s interactions within the legal department, with the Board and senior leadership.  Wendy Bryant Gow (CEO and Founder of Lily Winston) will join us for this segment.  Wendy is an image consultant, stylist and brand strategist whose company focuses on personal brand development and helps clients make the right first impression in the corporate setting.

We hope to see you on Jan. 25 at the Bar Center in Cary or live via webcast!  Click here to register.

/by

Executive Compensation Excise Tax On Tax-Exempt Organizations Produces Surprising Results

By Herman Spence III

The IRS recently issued Notice 2019-9 to provide interim guidance on the excise tax on certain executive compensation paid by applicable tax-exempt organizations (“ATEOs”).  Under Section 4960 of the new tax law, an ATEO is generally subject to a 21% tax for compensation paid to a covered employee in excess of $1 million per year.  Covered employees are the five highest compensated employees of the organization for the year plus anyone who is a covered employee of the organization in any year after 2016.  The tax also applies to excess parachute payments, which are severance-type compensation equal to more than three times the covered employee’s average annual compensation over a specified look-back.  The tax generally applies to deferred compensation when it vests, whether or not paid.  The tax does not apply to compensation to licensed medical professionals for medical services.

The excise tax produces surprising results in some situations, as illustrated in the examples below.  In each case assume a university pays annual compensation to its president, football coach, or prominent research professor of $5 million.

Read more

/by

VA List of Benefits Available For Veterans During the Shutdown

The VA has provided a list of resources available for veterans impacted by the partial government shutdown available at this link.

The VA recognizes that many veterans are also government employees affected by the partial federal government shutdown and may be experiencing personal and financial stress. The VA is open and working to support furloughed veteran federal employees. The list also provides programs and assistance by other federal agencies and organizations.

/by

Section Happenings: February CLE, Electronic Deskbook, Diversity Initiative, YLD Committee

By Jason Herndon

Friends –

Ready or not, 2019 is upon us. As we enter this new calendar year (and the midway point of our 2018-209 Bar year), I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight a few important Section issues and happenings.

Read more

/by

Writing Professionally: Language, Punctuation and Tone

By Morag Polaski

I am a self-confessed “word nerd.”  I love words. I love reading, and I read just about anything, including the dictionary.  But, sometimes I forget that not everybody finds the same enjoyment in words. And, I have been known to let my vocabulary get the better of me.  As paralegals, something we cannot afford to do is forget our audience. Quite simply, the “audience” is the other person with whom we are communicating, whether it is in writing or by speech.  We communicate differently when we speak to our own attorneys, opposing counsel, to the court, or to our clients. We assume a level of knowledge from the attorneys and the court (rightly or wrongly) and tend to assume less knowledge on the part of the client.  I volunteer as a Guardian ad Litem and at one point used the word “virulent” in a court report. I assumed that the word and its usage would be understood since my “audience” was a judge and a few attorneys, all of whom had a higher level of education than I did.  I was wrong. Very wrong. The judge asked for a definition of the word right there in the courtroom. (For those interested, the definition is “poisonous” or “intensely noxious,” which certainly described the family situation.)

Read more

/by

Zoning In: New Tax Benefits of Investing in Opportunity Zones

By Jonathan Jenkins and Andrew Steffensen

Overview

If you are a lawyer who represents a taxpayer who recently realized a short-term or long-term capital gain, your client may be looking for ways to avoid recognizing that capital gain and the associated tax bill. Thanks to a new tax incentive program, a taxpayer who has realized capital gains may have the opportunity to invest qualifying capital gains[1] in certain qualifying investments and (i) defer the recognition of such capital gains until December 31, 2026, (ii) reduce the amount of the capital gains required to be recognized by up to 15%, and (iii) entirely avoid paying any capital gains tax on any additional capital gains realized from such an investment. This post summarizes this new incentive, more commonly known as the opportunity zone tax incentive.

Read more

/by

Chair’s Comments

By Leslie Pegram

Hello, 2019!  If 2018 was a great one for you, congratulations. If it was not so great, you survived. Congratulations to you, too.  (We’ve all been there.) I look forward to the beginning of a new year. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the prior year and set a positive path for the new year. I think it’s important to set goals – personally and professionally.  I’m sure we all share similar goals for improved health and well-being. As important as it is to nurture and achieve your personal goals, don’t forget about your professional goals. I’ll share a few of mine for 2019: 1) Continue to work hard as Paralegal Division Chair 2) Finish up the Hurricane Florence professional clothing donation efforts 3) further develop my leadership skills and 4) (finally) test for a national paralegal certification. Needless to say, it will be another busy year.

If one of your goals is to become more involved in the Paralegal Division and the NCBA, below please find a variety of opportunities to serve our fellow citizens of North Carolina:

Read more

/by

Post-Project Review: How Lawyers Can Leverage Mistakes

,

By Alicia Mitchell-Mercer

Mistakes happen. They happen to brand new attorneys. They happen to attorneys who have been practicing for 30 years. Fear of reprisal can cause competent lawyers to correct and brush those mistakes under the rug so quickly that they do not take time to learn from them. They are a fact of law practice because, despite public opinion, lawyers are human. Instead of dismissing those opportunities for improvement, what if you could find a way to leverage those mistakes and make them work for you instead of against you?

 

Read more

/by

Permanent Home for NC Rules of Appellate Procedure on NC Courts Webpage

By Gregg F. Schwitzgebel III

Please know there is now a dedicated page on the North Carolina Courts website for the N.C. Rules of Appellate Procedure:

https://www.nccourts.gov/courts/supreme-court/court-rules/north-carolina-rules-of-appellate-procedure

On this page, one has access to an up-to-date codification (7 January 2019 version, attached) of the Rules, as well as to slip orders that have yet to be published in the North Carolina Reports.

The Supreme Court’s Office of Administrative Counsel seeks to continuously update this codification to incorporate new amendments ordered by the Supreme Court, so that there will be consistent access to a current set of the Rules.

In addition to the direct link above, the page can be manually accessed through the https://NCCourts.gov website as follows:

Home > Courts > Supreme Court > Court Rules > North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure

Home > Courts > Court of Appeals > Court Rules > North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure

Our Section thanks the Office of Administrative Counsel for bringing this exciting new development to fruition.

 

/by