My Vision for the Legal Profession: Prioritizing Attorney Mental Health
This piece was selected as the winning entry in the YLD’s 2022 Writing Competition.
By the time I retire from practicing law, I envision a legal profession that values and prioritizes mental health. My vision is motivated by personal loss and experience, and a sincere hope for change.[1]
Just before dawn on Thanksgiving Day, 2018, I received a phone call from my father. It was a call that we all hope never to receive, but that sadly, many of us have or may receive one day. In a shattered state, my father told me that my younger sister, just 28 years old at the time, had taken her own life.
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William Thomas has joined the firm as an associate attorney. Thomas focuses his practice on civil litigation, insurance coverage and defense, and employment law. He has prior experience in employment litigation and workers’ compensation law. While in law school, Thomas served as an intern for Associate Justice Samuel J. Ervin IV with the Supreme Court of North Carolina and Judge R. Christopher Dillon with the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He received his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law and his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Fox Rothschild LLP announced that Bradley M. Risinger is now the Managing Partner in the firm’s Raleigh office. Risinger is a trial attorney focusing on business litigation and complex disputes. He has experience litigating in the North Carolina Business Court, as well as in state and federal courts across the Southeast. Risinger served on the Board of Directors for United Way of North Carolina and on the Board of Directors for NC 2-11. He holds a J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. with high distinction from Indiana University.
K&L Gates announced that Courtney B. Thomas is now a partner. Thomas is a part of the corporate practice group. He focuses his practice on commercial technology and sourcing and corporate/mergers and acquisitions. Thomas has prior experience serving as senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary for an international technology company. He also practiced as a senior lawyer at a large investment bank. He has served as a guest lecturer at the University of North Carolina School of Law. He holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. from Duke University.
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