Sports & Entertainment Law Section Trivia Night (Thursday, May 7, 2020)

By Sheila Spence 

Please join the NCBA Sports and Entertainment Law Section on May 7, 2020 at 6 p.m. for #TriviaThursdays! We may be stuck at home, but that won’t stop us from having a little fun. Join us on Zoom and get to know our Council and section members. Pour a glass of your favorite beverage, throw on your old sports jerseys or favorite band T-shirts, and get ready to answer some questions about the sports and entertainment industry! There will be prizes for the winners! Please RSVP by May 6, 2020 using the link below. Once you RSVP, the zoom link/information will be distributed.

When | Thursday, May 7th | 6-7 p.m.

Where | Zoom (both a video link and a dial-in will be available)

RSVP | Click here

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Hey Health Plan, I Want _______ App to Have My Health Data!

By Sheila Spence and Nickeyea Wilkinson

On March 9, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized two rules (now released for publication in the Federal Register, as of April 21, 2020) intended to give patients additional access to their health data. The rules, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), implement interoperability and patient access provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act as well as the Administration’s MyHealthEData initiative.[1] The heart of CMS’ rule is to support data flowing freely and securely between payers, providers, and patients, and to truly achieve coordinated care, improved health outcomes, and reduced costs.[2]

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Helping People Find You With Google My Business

By Brian Craig

Have you ever been searching for something online, and used the search query “near me” or added your city to what you’re searching for? If so, you’re not alone. Recent studies have shown that almost 50% of Google searches have local intent—that is to say, the searcher is looking for a business or service geographically nearby.

Based on that stat, it’s not hard to understand why law firms are paying special attention to Local SEO recently. As most searches are done through Google, we pay the most attention to Google’s service for local search, which is called Google My Business.

Especially in the current environment with COVID-19, Google My Business is critical to helping your firm communicate with clients.

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Wednesday Wellness Sessions: How to Excel Under Pressure

By Stan Phelps

The human brain is the most powerful processor on the planet. It’s responsible for incredible advances in art, culture, and technology. Yet, at times, it can cause us to act like anything but a human being.

When we are exposed to a high enough level of pressure—for instance, when you find yourself in a tense negotiation with a client—the human brain loses its ability to distinguish between actual and perceived risk. This causes the most primitive part of our brain, the amygdala, to kick into high gear to protect you from an impending (though non-life-threatening) situation that it fears may kill you.

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Message from the Chair

By Clara Cottrell 

I am writing this from my kitchen table—probably where a lot of you are reading this whether you are on your laptop or your phone! My kids just tumbled back in through the door (outside time is over, free time [aka device time] has started), and I am wishing I could go outside, too. A lot of us in the Corporate Counsel Section are busier than ever. We are dealing not only with operations, but now strategy and the fires a virus has started. Some of us are wondering if we will have a job when this is all over. Like the saying goes, “my journey is not yours.” This is a stressful and lonely time (see the recent Loneliness in the Law blog post regardless of your situation. And it is compounded by worries around family members, friends, colleagues, and neighbors. Read more

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Cleaning and Disinfection Protocols for COVID-19 Affected Work Spaces

By Sean Sullivan 

Unsubstantiated claims regarding a variety of cleaning and “disinfection” procedures are flooding the market—from a surprising number of sources.  Here are a few helpful hints:

CDC Guidance – The CDC has published guidance for cleaning and disinfecting most businesses and public spaces. The guidance recommends a two-step process of cleaning all potentially affected surfaces, followed by applying an EPA-approved disinfectant for that type of surface or a 0.1% solution of bleach in water. Note that cleaning operations must comply with OSHA requirements for hazard communication and blood-borne pathogens.

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Pro Bono and Service in the Age of COVID-19: Opportunities for Involvement

By Nisel N. Desai

I vividly recall the validation and fellowship I experienced after serving in my first Wills For Heroes Clinic during my second year of law school. Classmates forged bonds with each other, and attorneys seemed reenergized by the mission of these clinics—to help first responders ensure that their final wishes are honored. Fast forward to present day 2020: COVID-19 has forced our profession to pause, retreat, and stay apart. During a time when we want to come together as a profession and address the challenges that COVID-19 has created for our society, we’re isolating, communicating over endless Zoom meetings, and grappling with the cognitive dissonance of screen time and virtual interactions. These are not easy times for any of us, either for those who are sheltering-in-place, or for those with loved ones on the frontlines who are facing their own challenges. However, the way that we as North Carolina attorneys respond to these challenges will characterize our profession once the stay-at-home orders are lifted, and it’s business as usual.

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ICPC Procedures during the COVID-19 Crisis – Interstate Adoption

By Brinton Wright and Michele Smith

If you’re involved in an interstate adoption and need to comply with the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), you should know how the COVID-19 crisis affected the procedure for submitting a request for approval of a placement to North Carolina ICPC.

North Carolina’s ICPC Administrative Assistant and ICPC Specialists are all working remotely while Governor Cooper’s Stay at Home Order remains in effect.  Accordingly, for now at least, do not send the ICPC request to the ICPC Office in Raleigh. There’s no one there!
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Update on Pro Bono Efforts

Mallory Lidaka

Samantha Aktug

By Mallory Lidaka and Samantha Aktug

Hello Section Members!  We hope everyone is staying healthy (and sane!) during these uncertain times. We want to first thank everyone for participating in our initial Pro Bono effort for the year during the Annual Conference in February. Free Legal Answers participation has grown since that time, and we are so happy that our Section’s participation helped to increase those registration numbers. We continue to encourage our Members to register and/or log-in to Free Legal Answers to continue to provide Pro Bono legal services to the community.

Although we cannot schedule in-person events at this time, we would love to find a way for our Members to remain engaged in our Pro Bono goals for this year even while everyone is working remotely. Please look out for more information to come from the Pro Bono Subcommittee about Pro Bono events in which you can participate. Also, if you have identified a Pro Bono need or idea in which you think our Members would enjoy participating, please do not hesitate to contact Mallory Lidaka ([email protected]) or Samantha Aktug ([email protected]). Thank you again for your continuing support of our Section.

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Ten Tips for the Quarantined Lawyer

By John O’Neal

Good day Counselor. I hope this post finds you and yours safe and well in these unusual times. The COVID-19 pandemic has given most of us more free time than we have had in a long time.

While you definitely need to use some of the free time to recharge your battery and engage in some non-work activities, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to improve your practice.

Here are a few quick tips:

  1. Review your list of current clients. Make and execute decisions on some of the cases that you have not worked on in a while. Disengage from the cases you need to get out of and re-engage on the cases that you need to work on. Reconnect with the client if it has been a while since you have touched base. Assess statutes of limitations in all unfiled cases.
  2. In all of your litigation cases review your case management plan. If you do not have a case management plan create one and think through the steps needed to execute it. Discovery, motions, depositions, mediation, and establish timelines if appropriate. Also, devise estimated costs for the different phases and facets of the case, so you can better account for your time and fees as well as what it may cost your client for your handling of the case.
  3. Review your monthly expenditures and determine if you need to cut any items, add any items, or reassess some of the items on which you are currently spending.
  4. Go through your list of accounts receivable, aka clients who owe you money. Consider whether you need to provide deferrals, payment plans, reductions, or waivers. Assess the probability of receiving payment and then proceed accordingly.
  5. Think and rethink your current areas of practice. Is it time for you to disengage from certain areas of practice? Is it time for you to learn and undertake new areas of practice? Identify areas of practice in which there is a shortage of attorneys in your geographical area.Nowadays, you can use technology to broaden the geographical area that you service and cover. You can also use technology to obtain resources and content and relationships to help you learn new areas of practice and obtain mentorship and guidance as you begin handling new cases. Often, to get the connections, resources, information, and additional fresh perspectives for your cases and practice, you have to look nationally versus locally. For me, joining the National Association of Consumer Advocates is one of the best career moves I have made. I should have done it years earlier.Do not keep doing what everyone else is doing and pulling your hair out about how you will beat or keep up with the competition. To the contrary, think outside the box, do something different, fill the voids around you, and see the results. This is especially important for the new lawyer.
  6. Connect with some of your colleagues and your top referral sources. Identify your top clients and reach out to them directly with a card, phone call, or other means of communication.
  7. Review and update your website. Do not delegate or leave this task to someone else. You are the legal expert and should have the best idea as to what content is needed in the current legal marketplace of new clients. It is okay to have your web developer review your proposed edits but do not let the developer be solely responsible for the content on your site. And if you do not have a website, seriously look into getting one . . . and soon!
  8. Determine ways you can gain an edge on your competition. What are your strengths and unique selling propositions that can separate you from your competition? Also identify any current weaknesses or limitations that you can work on to better improve your standing in the marketplace.
  9. Find ways to give back. Mentor young lawyers. Be a resource for people who are interested in a legal career. Connect with your college or law school alumni association and take a leadership role. Donate money or time or resources to the community. Start a scholarship fund for high school students seeking to attend college or college students seeking to attend law school. Reach out to local organizations and groups as to how you can provide free consultations for workshops or resources/information to better educate them on their rights.
  10. Remember where you came from. If your family and friends and hometown provided you support that helped you to accomplish your goal of becoming a lawyer, think of ways you can reconnect and give back to say thanks. Remember that these people and institutions should represent your warm market and can often be the source of new clients and relationships that can really boost your practice.

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