David Bradin joins Nexsen Pruet as special counsel for intellectual property law, specializing in pharmaceuticals, petroleum chemistry, polymer chemistry, and biotechnology. Previously Bradin worked as a process development chemist and as an adjunct professor of chemistry.
Two years after winning the Nexsen Pruet Diversity Scholarship in law school, Yolanda Davis joins Nexsen Pruet as an associate attorney of corporate and tax law. Before moving into the legal field, Davis worked as a nonprofit and accounting consultant. She holds a Bachelor of Science in biology, magna cum laude, from Winston-Salem State University, a Master of Science in accountancy from Wake Forest University, and a Juris Doctorate from Campbell University.
Congratulations to Lakisha Chichester who was awarded the 2019 Distinguished Paralegal Award on May 2, 2019 at the Paralegal Division Annual Meeting in Winston-Salem.
The Distinguished Paralegal Award is given to a Paralegal Division regular member who has actively participated in paralegal activities such as civic/community volunteering, paralegal leadership, paralegal education, and promotion of the paralegal profession. The award includes a membership to the NCBA Paralegal Division which now includes one section membership and 12 hours of On Demand CLE for the following year. Lakisha was recognized and presented with a plaque commemorating her receipt of the 2019 Distinguished Paralegal Award and will be recognized at the 2019 NCBA Annual Meeting Awards Dinner, Thursday, June 20 at the Biltmore House in Asheville.
Chichester is heavily involved in the paralegal professional community. She is a graduate of the Meredith College Paralegal Program, where she recently addressed the 2019 paralegal graduating class during its commencement ceremonies on May 14th. She is a North Carolina Certified Paralegal and earned her Advanced Certified Paralegal from NALA.
Judge Niemeyer’s fiery dissent in Westmoreland v. TWC Admin. LLC, No. 18-1600 (4th Cir. May 22, 2019) has people talking more than the typical employment discrimination case. In it, Judge Niemeyer proclaims:
Congress would croak to learn that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., would entitle an employee to recover in the circumstances of this case. I too croak, in harmony.
So what’s all the fuss about? When boiled down, this decision isn’t groundbreaking. It doesn’t create any new law and should be relatively uncontroversial.
The Circuit upheld a jury verdict for Glenda Westmoreland in her ADEA lawsuit against Time Warner Cable. Westmoreland easily established her prima facie case. First, at the time of Westmoreland’s termination, she was 61-years-old and in a protected class under the ADEA. Second, she was qualified for her job and meeting her employer’s legitimate expectations. During her three decades with the company, she had only two infractions before the event that allegedly led to her termination. Third, TWC fired her and, thus, there was an adverse employment action. Finally, TWC replaced her with a 37-year-old employee.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Laborhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngLabor2019-06-05 15:28:142019-06-05 15:28:14Nothing To Croak About: Westmoreland v. TWC
This year’s NCBA Annual Meeting theme is wellness and how legal professionals can achieve it. In preparation for the event, we talked with speakers scheduled to present at Annual Meeting for a series of quick-read Q&As. Click here to find Q&As on Jeena Cho, Laura Mahr, April Harris-Britt and Stan Phelps. Admission to all speaker presentations, including those for CLE credit, is included in registration.
NCBA Annual Meeting registration deadline is June 14. Greg Romeo, Comedian
Saturday, June 22
Find more details about Annual Meeting and register here.
Greg Romeo is a corporate comedian, actor and entertainer from Winston-Salem He has performed in Mexico, New Mexico, Las Vegas, New York and just about everywhere in between. His widely varied client list includes IBM, Wake Forest University and the FBI to name a few. Romeo continues to build on his reputation for delivering clean, clever and creative customized comedy.
Q: Which is more stressful: Being a lawyer or being a comedian trying to entertain lawyers?
A: I’d say being a lawyer trying to entertain comedians is quite stressful. Was that one of the options? I was never good with multiple choice questions.
From left, Charles Daye, attorney Janice Cole, former legislator H. M. “Mickey” Michaux Jr., Judge Sammie Chess and the late Julius Chambers will be honored as Legal Legends of Color during the NCBA Annual Meeting.
The Minorities in the Profession Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association will celebrate the fourth installment of the Legal Legends of Color Award in conjunction with the 2019 NCBA Annual Meeting in Asheville.
The LLOC Reception will be held at the Biltmore, headquarters for the NCBA Annual Meeting, beginning at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, June 21. Admission to the reception is included in Annual Meeting registration. Non-members and NCBA members who are not otherwise attending the Annual Meeting should email Amy Kemple.
Although this is a relatively new award for lawyers of color in North Carolina, the LLOC Reception has already established itself as a popular event. There is great interest surrounding the history of this honor and, especially, the announcement of each year’s recipients.
For answers to these and other questions, please continue to the following Q&A interview with Gwendolyn Lewis of Lincoln Derr PLLC in Charlotte, a member of the Minorities in the Profession Committee who presently serves on the NCBA Board of Governors.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00NCBARBLOGhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngNCBARBLOG2019-06-03 16:53:512019-06-04 15:24:46Legal Legends of Color To Honor Five Attorneys at NCBA Annual Meeting
We cannot believe that the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) just turned one. And we know we are not alone — many of you have advised your clients on the GDPR, sat through a CLE on the GDPR or, at a minimum, googled “the GDPR” in the days and months leading up to its enforcement date of May 25, 2018. After all, according to the European Commission, in May 2018 the GDPR was googled more times than Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian. [1]
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00SportsandEntertainmenthttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngSportsandEntertainment2019-05-31 12:41:492019-06-05 10:21:55Articles of Interest: Betting In the Bible Belt, Drones and 'Cubnoxious' Fans
Although mediation has strong societal values, mediation could be a very valuable and powerful tool to help the courts of Ukraine. The Ukrainian court system is and has been going through a crisis. Confidence in its fairness, objectivity, and impartiality is very low among Ukrainian citizens. But at the same time, the courts are underfunded and overworked. Many judges have more cases to handle and decide in a year than is humanly possible (over 350 cases per year per judge). Although not a panacea, mediation may be helpful in building public confidence in the courts while also relieving the case load stress. (Research in Maryland courts showed that in mediated cases the impression of the court’s fairness increased over cases that did not go to mediation.)
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00International Practicehttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngInternational Practice2019-05-31 10:38:322019-05-31 10:38:32Why Ukraine and Other Post-Soviet Countries Need Mediation
A member offers his summer reading list for young lawyers. What would you add? Send your suggested summer reading for lawyers to [email protected], and we’ll share with NCBA members.
Edmund Burke once admonished us that “People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” I was recently reminded of that aphorism and the simplicity and elegance of curiosity about things past, old things.
The latch mechanism on the front door of my home has opened and closed and locked that door since 1880. Symptomatic of advanced age, it had become slow and cranky. I was surprised one morning by a bolted assembly and a note telling me to use another door. Dwight Edwards, our friend and general contractor for many years was working on a project for my wife and me and had removed the lock assembly in its entirety and taken it to his shop. I saw him the following day as excited as a child with a new toy, all atwitter to explain to me the locking system used in the 1870s, how it compared to those of today, and what welding and brazing and fabricating he had done the previous evening to make the lock of our ancestors work for us and our posterity.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00NCBARBLOGhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngNCBARBLOG2019-05-29 00:00:002019-07-26 16:16:24Summer Reading: Who Was Tycho Brahe? Why Does It Matter?
I’m writing in regard to a few upcoming events in the life of our section.
First and foremost, I’m writing to invite you, and your colleagues and friends, to our Section’s first-ever Lunch & Learn, beginning at noon Friday, June 14 at the NC Bar Center in Cary. The program is entitled “Epilogue to a 2019 SCOTUS Oral Argument- N.C. Dept. of Revenue v. Kaestner 1992 Family Tr. (No. 18-457)” and features North Carolina Solicitor General Matt Sawchak and Drew Erteschik, Vice Chair of the Appellate Rules Committee.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Appellatehttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngAppellate2019-05-22 15:27:152019-05-22 15:27:15Join Us At Our Inaugural Lunch & Learn On Friday, June 14
Checking In: June 10, 2019
Checking In, Featured PostsRead more
Chichester Named 2019 Distinguished Paralegal
Paralegal DivisionBy Leslie Pegram
Congratulations to Lakisha Chichester who was awarded the 2019 Distinguished Paralegal Award on May 2, 2019 at the Paralegal Division Annual Meeting in Winston-Salem.
Chichester is heavily involved in the paralegal professional community. She is a graduate of the Meredith College Paralegal Program, where she recently addressed the 2019 paralegal graduating class during its commencement ceremonies on May 14th. She is a North Carolina Certified Paralegal and earned her Advanced Certified Paralegal from NALA.
Read more
Nothing To Croak About: Westmoreland v. TWC
Labor & Employment LawJudge Niemeyer’s fiery dissent in Westmoreland v. TWC Admin. LLC, No. 18-1600 (4th Cir. May 22, 2019) has people talking more than the typical employment discrimination case. In it, Judge Niemeyer proclaims:
Congress would croak to learn that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., would entitle an employee to recover in the circumstances of this case. I too croak, in harmony.
So what’s all the fuss about? When boiled down, this decision isn’t groundbreaking. It doesn’t create any new law and should be relatively uncontroversial.
The Circuit upheld a jury verdict for Glenda Westmoreland in her ADEA lawsuit against Time Warner Cable. Westmoreland easily established her prima facie case. First, at the time of Westmoreland’s termination, she was 61-years-old and in a protected class under the ADEA. Second, she was qualified for her job and meeting her employer’s legitimate expectations. During her three decades with the company, she had only two infractions before the event that allegedly led to her termination. Third, TWC fired her and, thus, there was an adverse employment action. Finally, TWC replaced her with a 37-year-old employee.
Read more
Greg Romeo: Clean, Clever, Custom Comedy
Featured PostsThis year’s NCBA Annual Meeting theme is wellness and how legal professionals can achieve it. In preparation for the event, we talked with speakers scheduled to present at Annual Meeting for a series of quick-read Q&As. Click here to find Q&As on Jeena Cho, Laura Mahr, April Harris-Britt and Stan Phelps. Admission to all speaker presentations, including those for CLE credit, is included in registration.
Q: Which is more stressful: Being a lawyer or being a comedian trying to entertain lawyers?
A: I’d say being a lawyer trying to entertain comedians is quite stressful. Was that one of the options? I was never good with multiple choice questions.
Read more
Legal Legends of Color To Honor Five Attorneys at NCBA Annual Meeting
Minorities In the ProfessionFrom left, Charles Daye, attorney Janice Cole, former legislator H. M. “Mickey” Michaux Jr., Judge Sammie Chess and the late Julius Chambers will be honored as Legal Legends of Color during the NCBA Annual Meeting.
By Russell Rawlings
Although this is a relatively new award for lawyers of color in North Carolina, the LLOC Reception has already established itself as a popular event. There is great interest surrounding the history of this honor and, especially, the announcement of each year’s recipients.
For answers to these and other questions, please continue to the following Q&A interview with Gwendolyn Lewis of Lincoln Derr PLLC in Charlotte, a member of the Minorities in the Profession Committee who presently serves on the NCBA Board of Governors.
Read more
GDPR Reaches the ‘Terrible Twos’
Privacy and Data SecurityBy Orla M. O’Hannaidh and Taylor Ey
We cannot believe that the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) just turned one. And we know we are not alone — many of you have advised your clients on the GDPR, sat through a CLE on the GDPR or, at a minimum, googled “the GDPR” in the days and months leading up to its enforcement date of May 25, 2018. After all, according to the European Commission, in May 2018 the GDPR was googled more times than Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian. [1]
Read more
Articles of Interest: Betting In the Bible Belt, Drones and ‘Cubnoxious’ Fans
Sports & Entertainment Law SectionMembers of the Sports & Entertainment Law Section found the following recent third-party articles to be of potential interest to the Section:
Read more
Why Ukraine and Other Post-Soviet Countries Need Mediation
International Law, International Law & PracticeBy Frank Laney
Although mediation has strong societal values, mediation could be a very valuable and powerful tool to help the courts of Ukraine. The Ukrainian court system is and has been going through a crisis. Confidence in its fairness, objectivity, and impartiality is very low among Ukrainian citizens. But at the same time, the courts are underfunded and overworked. Many judges have more cases to handle and decide in a year than is humanly possible (over 350 cases per year per judge). Although not a panacea, mediation may be helpful in building public confidence in the courts while also relieving the case load stress. (Research in Maryland courts showed that in mediated cases the impression of the court’s fairness increased over cases that did not go to mediation.)
Read more
Summer Reading: Who Was Tycho Brahe? Why Does It Matter?
Featured PostsBy James W. Narron
Edmund Burke once admonished us that “People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” I was recently reminded of that aphorism and the simplicity and elegance of curiosity about things past, old things.
The latch mechanism on the front door of my home has opened and closed and locked that door since 1880. Symptomatic of advanced age, it had become slow and cranky. I was surprised one morning by a bolted assembly and a note telling me to use another door. Dwight Edwards, our friend and general contractor for many years was working on a project for my wife and me and had removed the lock assembly in its entirety and taken it to his shop. I saw him the following day as excited as a child with a new toy, all atwitter to explain to me the locking system used in the 1870s, how it compared to those of today, and what welding and brazing and fabricating he had done the previous evening to make the lock of our ancestors work for us and our posterity.
Read more
Join Us At Our Inaugural Lunch & Learn On Friday, June 14
Appellate PracticeFellow Appellate Practice Section members─
I’m writing in regard to a few upcoming events in the life of our section.
First and foremost, I’m writing to invite you, and your colleagues and friends, to our Section’s first-ever Lunch & Learn, beginning at noon Friday, June 14 at the NC Bar Center in Cary. The program is entitled “Epilogue to a 2019 SCOTUS Oral Argument- N.C. Dept. of Revenue v. Kaestner 1992 Family Tr. (No. 18-457)” and features North Carolina Solicitor General Matt Sawchak and Drew Erteschik, Vice Chair of the Appellate Rules Committee.
Read more