From April 1 through May 3, the North Carolina Bar Association Young Lawyers Division at the direction of Lisa Arthur launched a wellness challenge to promote and celebrate the wellness initiatives of young lawyers across the state in the face of the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Each week, lawyers shared their wellness activities in a Strava club and encouraged their peers to do the same. To support wellness in the profession, the YLD agreed to award $75 gift cards to a small business of a young lawyer’s choosing. Today, we recognize the winners and the small businesses the winners support.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00NCBA YLDhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngNCBA YLD2020-05-13 15:49:432020-05-13 17:06:55Announcing the Winners of the NCBA YLD COVID-19 Wellness Challenge
On Thursday, May 7, the Workers’ Compensation Section Council held its last quarterly meeting of the 2019-2020 Bar Year. Due to the ongoing public health situation, the meeting was held remotely via Zoom and telephone call-in, which as anyone who has participated in a multi-person virtual conference can confirm, was interesting, to say the least.
Although my term as Chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section is not yet over, it is nearing its end, which allows me to indulge in a bit of reflection. At the beginning of the Bar Year, my goals for the Section included providing quality continuing legal education opportunities, identifying a pro bono project for the Section to support, and creating numerous social/networking opportunities for our members. We were able to coordinate two social/networking opportunities in the first two-thirds of the Bar Year, but the recent public health concerns impacted our ability to move forward with our third event, a baseball game at the Greensboro Grasshoppers in late April. I am certainly disappointed that this event had to be canceled, but my sincere hope is that this will be rescheduled next spring. I look forward to enjoying baseball and beer with my colleagues in the Section.
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By Rachel Royal
Perspective. That is what Michael Martinez, Bankruptcy and Corporate Attorney at Grier Wright Martinez, P.A., gleans from his pro bono work. He shares, “It really helps the effectiveness of my tact and approach dealing with my corporate clients when I’m simultaneously working with a pro bono client trying to save a house or put food on the table.” Although he has worked at the same firm since graduating from law school in 2009, Michael has volunteered for a wide variety of pro bono causes.
One of the most meaningful projects was one that he essentially pioneered in 2012 when he assisted terminal cancer patients at a local rehabilitative and palliative care clinic with end-of-life-planning. This project was particularly important because most of the patients were immigrants or underprivileged and unable to otherwise afford the legal assistance needed to prepare their families for the aftermath of their deaths. Many of these patients would leave behind minor children who would subsequently be orphaned which magnified the significance of this work.
Right now, the NCIC has mandated that all mediations must be conducted virtually until June 1, 2020. This time frame could change, so it is important to stay apprised of any changes reflected on both the NCIC website and the NC DRC website. In-person mediations are the most effective particularly when parties are navigating thorny legal or emotional issues. However, I have been thrilled to have the ability to conduct virtual mediations via the Zoom web conferencing platform, and they have gone very well. It really is the next best option to an in-person conference because you can still read facial expressions and body language, which is so important in a mediation.
And so it begins . . . one of the first coronavirus insurance coverage cases in N.C. was filed recently in Guilford County Superior Court. Not surprisingly, the plaintiffs are restaurants that were forced to close or curtail their services due to Gov. Cooper’s stay-at-home order that went into effect in mid-March. Most of the allegations are more legal arguments than facts (read full complaint here), but plaintiffs recognize that one of the issues is whether the government-mandated closings caused “direct physical loss,” which is alleged to be undefined in the policies at issue. There is apparently a “virus” exclusion in some of the policies, but plaintiffs argue that the actual cause of their losses was public fear, commotion, and/or government action. Plaintiffs further contend the court should find coverage for their lost business revenue because they paid premiums for that coverage.
As with most litigation, there will be no quick answers from the Court. I predict we’ll see a decision on a summary judgment motion in about 12-18 months, and then an appeal after that. It’s one to keep an eye on.
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In reading the most recent Court of Appeals decision on standing in North Carolina, Hoag v. Pitt County (19-826 – Unpublished), I’m reminded of Elton John’s hit “I’m Still Standing.” It seems like there is a new challenge to the standing requirements in North Carolina on a regular basis, and yet the appellate courts consistently hold the line on the requirement to allege special damages that are distinct from the rest of the community in a particularized and supportable way. In Hoag, the Court declined the opportunity to knock down the standing barrier. This requirement is very much “still standing … yeah, yeah, yeah.”
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On Friday, May 1, 2020, the Family Law Section participated in the North Carolina Bar Foundation’s first-ever “Virtual” Empower Hour. After our Virtual Section Meeting, members stayed on our Zoom call to login to NC Free Legal Answers and to help clear the Family Law question queue together. NC Free Legal Answers is a 100% virtual pro bono service where income-eligible North Carolina residents can ask civil legal questions for free. According to NCBF Pro Bono Staff Attorney, Jeanine Soufan, the most popular legal questions on the site are Family, Housing, and Consumer Law.
S.L. 2020-3, SB704 was passed by the House and Senate on May 2 and signed into law by the governor on May 4. It contains the following of interest to ZPLU members:
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00InsuranceLawhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngInsuranceLaw2020-05-12 23:05:222020-05-15 10:44:19Legislature Delays Enactment of 160D and Enacts Rules for Remote Meetings During State of Emergency
In June 2019, Disproportionate Minority Contact in North Carolina: An Assessment Study by Stan Orchowsky, Ph.D., Cambiare Consulting and Michael J. Leiber, Ph.D. and Chae M. Jaynes, Ph.D., University of South Florida, was released through a grant from the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission. This was the first statewide study on disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in the juvenile justice system since 2013.
The goal of the assessment study was to determine whether, where and why DMC exists in North Carolina’s juvenile justice system. The analysis is based on using the Relative Rate Index, or “RRI.” The RRI is the ratio of the proportion of minority youth at a given stage to the proportion of white youth at that same stage. If both groups are being processed at the same rate, then the RRI would be equal to 1. RRIs above 1 indicate disproportionate minority contact at that stage of the system.
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On May 8, 2020, Julian Mann, Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Office of Administrative Hearings, issued an order regarding the timeliness of contested case petition filings. Read the order below or here. There are other orders related to the COVID-19 emergency on the OAH website here.
State of North Carolina
Office of Administrative Hearings
1711 New Hope Church Rd
Raleigh, NC 27609
On March 19, 2020, The Honorable Cheri Beasley, Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, issued an order pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-39(b)(1) stating that “catastrophic conditions resulting from the public health threat posed by COVID-19 exist in all counties of this state.” The Chief Justice’s Order of March 19, 2020, was set to expire at the close of business on April 17, 2020. On April 13, 2020, The Honorable Cheri Beasley, Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, issued an order pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-39(b)(1) stating that “catastrophic conditions resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak have existed and continue to exist in all counties of this state.” The Chief Justice’s Order of April 13, 2020, is set to expire at the close of business on June 1, 2020, with the caveat that “[a]dditional emergency orders or directives under N.C.G.S. § 7A-39(b) may be entered as necessary to support the continuing operation of essential court functions.”
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