Pro Bono Opportunities – Without Even Leaving (or Going to) the Office

By Matt Krueger-Andes and John Boutwell

As we work our way through (another) tumultuous year, one bright spot is the continued opportunity to provide pro bono services virtually – from your home, office, or wherever you may be. These opportunities make it even easier to give a few minutes of your time and expertise to those who need it most.

In recognition of our section’s strong tradition of pro bono and community service work (and of course, National Pro Bono Week), we highlight several current and upcoming pro bono opportunities below.

Happy Pro Bono Week!

NC LEAP

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They are also central to many of our communities. The pandemic has been rough on small businesses, and NC LEAP (Lawyers for Entrepreneurs Assistance Program) is your chance to help. Though NC LEAP, volunteer attorneys can provide pro bono advice to small businesses through webinars and clinics. For more information on this great opportunity, click here.

NC Free Legal Answers Initiative

The NC Free Legal Answers program continues to be a great pro bono opportunity – and again one that is available from the comfort of your own home. Through this program, you can volunteer to offer your legal expertise virtually and remotely 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

How does it work? Qualifying North Carolina residents post their civil legal questions to the website. Attorney volunteers will be able to log in to select questions to answer and provide legal information and advice – all anonymously. The “client” will then be emailed when their question receives a response. Where more in-depth legal representation is needed, information about referrals and other legal services projects will be made available. You can volunteer now by clicking here.

Wills for Heroes

Wills for Heroes is the long-running estate planning program that provides free legal assistance to first responders and their families. As part of this program, volunteer attorneys can assist with drafting simple wills, health care power of attorney and financial power of attorney documents for these front-line workers – some of the true heroes throughout this pandemic. To check out the details of this program, click here.

4ALL Statewide Day of Service

One day each year, volunteer attorneys across the state come together to field and answer legal questions from fellow North Carolinians.

Last year’s 4ALL was a big success – volunteers answered over 9,500 calls (whoa) and assisted people across the state with questions related to housing, family law, estate planning, bankruptcy, business and tax matters, immigration and many other legal needs.

Can we beat that this year? Stay tuned for details – and in the meantime, find more information about this opportunity here.

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Case Law Update: Mucha v. Wagner (DVPO, Personal Jurisdiction Over Defendant)

By Rebecca Watts 

Mucha v. Wagner, Supreme Court of North Carolina, August 13, 2021 (DVPO, personal jurisdiction over defendant)

Plaintiff and defendant were in a romantic relationship while plaintiff was in college in South Carolina and defendant lived in Connecticut. The relationship ended while plaintiff was still in South Carolina. Upon ending the relationship, plaintiff told defendant not to contact her again. Plaintiff then moved to North Carolina at the end of her college semester. On the day she moved, defendant attempted to contact plaintiff 28 times. Upon hearing a voice mail message, plaintiff suffered a panic attack. The next day, plaintiff filed a 50B action in North Carolina.

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YLD e-Blast: October 2021

Claire O'Brien

Claire O’Brien

Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen

By Claire O’Brien and Michael Cohen

DATES TO KNOW

October 29 | Examples of Lawyer Leadership: Perspectives from Across the Non-Profit and Public Interest Sectors | noon to 1 p.m.

November 1 | Salary Negotiations 101 | noon to 1 p.m.

November 4 | Spotlight on Magistrate Judges and Federal Litigation | noon to 1 p.m.

November 8 | Spotlight on Privacy and Data Security | noon to 1 p.m.

November 11 | Leveraging LinkedIn for Young Lawyers and Law Students | noon to 1 p.m.

COMMITTEE AND SECTION UPDATES

New Lawyers in Practice – How-to Guides: The New Lawyers in Practice Committee has created a suite of “how-to” guides, free to NCBA members, to walk new attorneys through basic procedures in various types of law and to serve as a tool for experienced attorneys to brush up on practical skills. Check out the eight guides that the committee has so far and be on the lookout for more coming soon!

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NCBA Government & Public Sector Section Scholarship Experience

MaryAnne HamiltonBy MaryAnne M. Hamilton

I spent part of this past summer interning with the North Carolina Department of Justice, in the Land, Groundwater and Waste section of the Environmental Division. I was pleased to have this opportunity to combine two of my core interests – public service and environmental law. I am very grateful to the North Carolina Bar Association Government & Public Sector Section for supporting my interest in public service with a $1,000 scholarship to help cover my expenses for the summer.

I am a law student who has entered law school after changing careers, and the impulse to serve others drove my decision to go to law school. I joined the Navy after high school because I was drawn to its ideals of service and leadership. My time in uniform built the foundation that allowed me, a few years later, to build my own business as a freelance editorial manager, writer, and editor. In choosing law school, I returned to those ideals; I was seeking a way to deploy my writing and research skills in service to others, and to society at large. Working with the Environmental Division allowed me to combine that impulse to serve others with my deep personal concerns about environmental issues, including climate change and the vast amount of waste humans create.

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Pro Bono Month

Kristin Kelly BroylesBy Kristin Kelly Broyles

It’s National Celebrate Pro Bono Month! That’s right . . . you heard it here: it’s time to get your pro bono “on” if you haven’t already this year. Should every month be pro bono month? Absolutely! October is particularly great . . . why? Well, the leaves are changing, hot toddies by the campfire are in my future and everything you could ever imagine is pumpkin flavored. Get to the point, you say; I’m super important and don’t have time for your ramblings. OK, here you go!

Rule 6.1 of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct states that “every lawyer has a professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay.” Across the state, there is a great need for family law specific pro bono services. As a member of North Carolina Bar Association, you can register to volunteer virtually by signing up for North Carolina Free Legal Answers which is a web-based pro bono program for financially eligible users to post civil legal questions. Attorneys can sort and filter questions with many of the questions being family/divorce/custody related. Questions generally take attorneys 5 minutes or so to respond. It is easy. You can find more information about the program here.

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Celebrating National Pro Bono Week

By Manisha P. Patel

Members of the North Carolina access to justice community are putting the focus on pro bono as part of the National Pro Bono Week Celebration. The annual celebration has been celebrated in conjunction with the American Bar Association’s National Celebration of Pro Bono: Moving Forward in a Post-Pandemic World (this year’s theme) and is held from October 25 through October 31, 2021. The National Pro Bono Week Celebration focuses the nation’s attention on increased need for pro bono services and celebrates the outstanding work of lawyers who volunteer their services throughout the year.

During Pro Bono Week, North Carolina legal aid programs, bar associations, law firms, law schools, and others will celebrate pro bono by recognizing volunteers, offering training, providing pro bono legal services at clinics, hosting events to raise money for legal aid, and raising awareness of the need for pro bono. For more information about events in your area, visit https://www.probono.net/celebrateprobono/.

There are many ways to get involved in pro bono service in our state. North Carolina legal services organizations including Legal Aid of NC, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and Pisgah Legal Services coordinate pro bono case referrals and provide volunteer training, support and malpractice insurance coverage for pro bono practice. The NC Bar Foundation and NC Pro Bono Resource Center both coordinate pro bono projects that engage attorneys, paralegals and law students in pro bono service. Sections, Divisions and Committees of the NC Bar Association coordinate pro bono initiatives that allow members to serve within their areas of practice. Find pro bono opportunities here: https://ncprobono.org/opportunities/.

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North Carolina Construction Sales and Use Tax

By John G. Hodnette

In 2017, North Carolina sales and use tax related to construction changed, creating a binary system. Although the Department of Revenue released Directive SD-18-1 to explain the new rules, they remain confusing to many service providers.

Construction projects can be taxed under North Carolina sales and use tax in one of two ways: (a) as a real property contract (“RPC”) or (b) as a repair, maintenance, and installation service (“RMI”). An RPC is defined by G.S. § 105-164.3(207) as “a contract between a real property contractor and another person to perform a capital improvement to real property.” Capital improvement means, in part, “a new construction, reconstruction, or remodeling.” G.S. § 105-164.3(31).

In contrast, an RMI service is a service to customers that does not qualify as an RPC. It is generally a smaller construction job such as updating countertops, repairing fixtures, or other general maintenance contracting work.

The tax treatments of an RPC and RMI are different. Under an RPC, services are provided to the general contractor or homeowner. The service provider pays sales tax to its supplier for materials purchased for the job. However, because sales tax on materials need be paid only once, RPCs are exempt from the sales tax on services. The service provider does not invoice the general contractor or homeowner for any tax. To ensure a job qualifies as an RPC, the service provider should request a Form E-589CI (affidavit of capital improvement) from the general contractor or homeowner. Receipt of this form absolves the service provider from responsibility for collecting taxes and, in the event of a sales tax audit, shows reasonable reliance that sales tax was not due.

As to an RMI, the end client is responsible for paying tax on both the services provided and the cost of the goods incident to such service. Because sales tax need be paid only once, RMIs use Form E-595E resale exemptions to defer tax on the purchase of goods to be used in the RMI until the services are provided to the final customer. In such case, sales tax should be charged on the total cost of the service and goods provided to the customer unless the customer provides a Form E-595E indicating an exemption.

John G. Hodnette, JD, LLM is an attorney with Culp, Elliott, & Carpenter in Charlotte.

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Pro Bono Spotlight: William Christy

By Karsin Williard

William (Bill) Christy is an outstanding volunteer attorney who has done extensive pro bono and community service to improve the lives of Western North Carolinians since moving back to the region in 1995 to practice law. Bill founded the firm Stone & Christy, PA in Black Mountain in that year and immediately began doing pro bono service through Pisgah Legal Services’ Mountain Area Volunteer Lawyer Program (MAVL). Through MAVL, Bill has handled at least 488 pro bono cases, contributing more than 1,500 hours of pro bono legal services. Bill has assisted low-income clients with consumer protection and debtor issues, housing problems, tax matters, end-of-life planning and probate, and immigration and family preparedness issues.

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Swearing-In Ceremony, Check: Next Step, Networking

Denaa GriffinBy Denaa J. Griffin

New attorneys! Congratulations on your recent swearing-in ceremony. Are you overwhelmed with all the responsibility gained from the transition from law student to licensed attorney? Let me share a brief (not so secret) secret for quickly expanding your network and preparing for years three to six of your career as a licensed attorney. Lean in. Ready?

Be active in the Young Lawyers Division.

That’s it! Join a committee within the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) and get to know other members of the organization well. This will provide you and the other committee members with an opportunity to get to know each other’s abilities as you work on projects and events together. You and the other members now have each other as a resource, whether that be for direct client referrals, questions about a practice area, or support as you enter various stages of your career.

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Welcome Message from Corporate Counsel Section Chair Christine Mazzone

By Christine Mazzone

Hello Corporate Counsel Section members,

I hope you and your families are staying safe and well. Thank you for your membership in the NCBA’s Corporate Counsel Section, and for the opportunity to serve as your Section Chair for the 2021-2022 bar year. I’d like to welcome all of our new members to the Corporate Counsel Section. We have a great group of members to connect with, plenty of opportunities to get involved, and a wealth of resources for corporate counsel at all levels.

Please join me in congratulating Clayton Morgan for being named President-Elect of the NCBA. Clayton is Associate General Counsel at Duke Energy and has been a longstanding member of the Corporate Counsel Section. Clayton brings an amazing amount of experience and perspective to the position – and it is extra exciting for our section!

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