Ever wonder how lawyers with great jobs got their sweet gigs? Then this free event is for you. Join us at the N.C. Bar Center on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. for a panel of practicing attorneys who have career advice to share. Get more details and register here.
Panelists are Nicholas Dowgul of Felton Banks PLLC, Wes Saunders of the N.C. DOJ, Lyle Gravatt with NK Patent Law, and Daniel Moose of The Law Offices of Daniel R. Moose. Starting Out Solo is free, and dinner will be provided, so RSVP. All law students and legal professionals who want to learn more about law practice management are encouraged to attend. For questions, contact Jeremy Williams.
In advance of the panel, Lyle Gravatt answered a few questions about his path from $10-an-hour tech analyst to firm attorney with NK Patent Law.
Q: With experience as an entrepreneur and a degree in physics, what motivated you to pursue a law degree and practice?
A: I had a very nontraditional pathway to a legal career. I started out as a biophysics researcher and slowly realized that being in a lab just wasn’t for me. I had some skills as an extrovert that the lab setting didn’t allow me to use. And working in a lab has a very narrow focus. So, I went the complete opposite direction and I got involved in entrepreneurship, particularly sales. That again steered me toward an industry that was very narrowly focused. I was merely exercising the social aspects of myself and not really challenging the intellectual aspects. After trying out those two extremes I felt like the legal field would allow me to exercise my intellectual passions and my passion for people and my more extroverted tendencies. And intellectual property law allowed me to dive back into the science, which I always enjoyed.
Q: How did you arrive at your current position?
A: When I first graduated from law school at the University of Mississippi, I went to work for the law school developing a pro bono program that’s now in place. After I left, I was studying for the Louisiana bar, and I was really struggling, trying to get an IT job in that area. So, I packed up my bags, I put a bunch of suits in the car, printed out a bunch of resumes and I went on a Southeast tour – where all my friends lived — and started knocking on doors because emails and phone calls weren’t working.
When I got here to the Triangle area, somebody hired me for $10 an hour to be a tech analyst. It was a company that was associated with a law firm, where the tech company and the law firm worked together and were housed in the same offices. That was my in. I started out as a tech analyst, and a year later I was working in the law firm, and two years later I was transitioning out to a traditional law firm.
I saw the tech job as an opportunity to get into the company with my science background and allow myself to gain some legal experience and hopefully transition to the legal side, which did happen.
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.pngNCBARBLOG2017-09-25 12:47:512018-07-21 19:06:04How One Attorney Turned a $10-an-hour Tech Job Into a Career In Patent Law: Hear the Story at 'Starting Out Solo'
The North Carolina State Bar has learned that a caller representing an entity named “Small Business Growth Alliance” is calling lawyers and telling them that their IOLTA accounts are due for audit. The caller falsely claims that Small Business Growth Alliance is authorized by the State Bar to perform random audits and tries to schedule the audits.
Neither Small Business Growth Alliance nor any entity other than the State Bar is authorized to perform a State Bar random trust account audit. Auditors who are employees of the State Bar perform all random trust account audits. If you are selected for a random State Bar audit, you will be contacted by a State Bar official and will receive a written subpoena signed by State Bar officials.
If you receive a call from anyone other than an employee of the State Bar seeking to arrange a State Bar random trust account audit, please report the call to the State Bar immediately at (919)828-4620 and, if possible, provide the caller’s contact information.
https://www.ncbarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Scam-Blog.jpg20834750NCBARBLOGhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngNCBARBLOG2017-09-22 11:01:032017-09-22 11:01:03NC State Bar Warns: Beware Calls For IOLTA Audit From Third Party
Spend your Monday lunch hour chatting with a rock star while earning CLE/CPE credit. Register for the webcast “A Name Worth Fighting For: How Naming My Band The Slants Got Me To the Supreme Court,” featuring rocker Simon Tam, presented by the NCBA CLE Department. Members of the NCBA Intellectual Property Law, Litigation, and Sports & Entertainment Law sections enjoy a discounted rate.
Tam, founder and bassist of The Slants, will talk about how his fight with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over his band’s name led to a U.S. Supreme Court case. The webcast discussion runs from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18. Tam will answer audience questions and speak frankly about racism, legal troubles and his incredible stories of playing in the world’s “first and only Asian-American dance rock band.”
Here’s a preview of Monday’s conversation, based on a Q&A with Joyce Brafford, NCBA’s Distance Learning Manager for CLE.
https://www.ncbarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Simon_Tam.jpg28484288NCBARBLOGhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngNCBARBLOG2017-09-14 12:55:522017-09-14 12:55:52Lunch-hour CLE With a Rock Star: The Slants Front Man Talks About the Legal Battle To Name His Band
How One Attorney Turned a $10-an-hour Tech Job Into a Career In Patent Law: Hear the Story at ‘Starting Out Solo’
Featured PostsBy Amber Nimocks
Ever wonder how lawyers with great jobs got their sweet gigs? Then this free event is for you. Join us at the N.C. Bar Center on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. for a panel of practicing attorneys who have career advice to share. Get more details and register here.
Panelists are Nicholas Dowgul of Felton Banks PLLC, Wes Saunders of the N.C. DOJ, Lyle Gravatt with NK Patent Law, and Daniel Moose of The Law Offices of Daniel R. Moose. Starting Out Solo is free, and dinner will be provided, so RSVP. All law students and legal professionals who want to learn more about law practice management are encouraged to attend. For questions, contact Jeremy Williams.
In advance of the panel, Lyle Gravatt answered a few questions about his path from $10-an-hour tech analyst to firm attorney with NK Patent Law.
Q: With experience as an entrepreneur and a degree in physics, what motivated you to pursue a law degree and practice?
A: I had a very nontraditional pathway to a legal career. I started out as a biophysics researcher and slowly realized that being in a lab just wasn’t for me. I had some skills as an extrovert that the lab setting didn’t allow me to use. And working in a lab has a very narrow focus. So, I went the complete opposite direction and I got involved in entrepreneurship, particularly sales. That again steered me toward an industry that was very narrowly focused. I was merely exercising the social aspects of myself and not really challenging the intellectual aspects. After trying out those two extremes I felt like the legal field would allow me to exercise my intellectual passions and my passion for people and my more extroverted tendencies. And intellectual property law allowed me to dive back into the science, which I always enjoyed.
Q: How did you arrive at your current position?
A: When I first graduated from law school at the University of Mississippi, I went to work for the law school developing a pro bono program that’s now in place. After I left, I was studying for the Louisiana bar, and I was really struggling, trying to get an IT job in that area. So, I packed up my bags, I put a bunch of suits in the car, printed out a bunch of resumes and I went on a Southeast tour – where all my friends lived — and started knocking on doors because emails and phone calls weren’t working.
When I got here to the Triangle area, somebody hired me for $10 an hour to be a tech analyst. It was a company that was associated with a law firm, where the tech company and the law firm worked together and were housed in the same offices. That was my in. I started out as a tech analyst, and a year later I was working in the law firm, and two years later I was transitioning out to a traditional law firm.
I saw the tech job as an opportunity to get into the company with my science background and allow myself to gain some legal experience and hopefully transition to the legal side, which did happen.
Read more
NC State Bar Warns: Beware Calls For IOLTA Audit From Third Party
Featured PostsThe North Carolina State Bar has learned that a caller representing an entity named “Small Business Growth Alliance” is calling lawyers and telling them that their IOLTA accounts are due for audit. The caller falsely claims that Small Business Growth Alliance is authorized by the State Bar to perform random audits and tries to schedule the audits.
Neither Small Business Growth Alliance nor any entity other than the State Bar is authorized to perform a State Bar random trust account audit. Auditors who are employees of the State Bar perform all random trust account audits. If you are selected for a random State Bar audit, you will be contacted by a State Bar official and will receive a written subpoena signed by State Bar officials.
If you receive a call from anyone other than an employee of the State Bar seeking to arrange a State Bar random trust account audit, please report the call to the State Bar immediately at (919)828-4620 and, if possible, provide the caller’s contact information.
Lunch-hour CLE With a Rock Star: The Slants Front Man Talks About the Legal Battle To Name His Band
Featured Posts, Intellectual Property Law Section, Litigation Section, Sports & Entertainment Law SectionSpend your Monday lunch hour chatting with a rock star while earning CLE/CPE credit. Register for the webcast “A Name Worth Fighting For: How Naming My Band The Slants Got Me To the Supreme Court,” featuring rocker Simon Tam, presented by the NCBA CLE Department. Members of the NCBA Intellectual Property Law, Litigation, and Sports & Entertainment Law sections enjoy a discounted rate.
Tam, founder and bassist of The Slants, will talk about how his fight with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over his band’s name led to a U.S. Supreme Court case. The webcast discussion runs from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18. Tam will answer audience questions and speak frankly about racism, legal troubles and his incredible stories of playing in the world’s “first and only Asian-American dance rock band.”
Here’s a preview of Monday’s conversation, based on a Q&A with Joyce Brafford, NCBA’s Distance Learning Manager for CLE.
Read more