Announcing the “What’s Blowing Your Mind?” Series — Watch it on the Blog

Karen, a white woman with brown eyes and brown hair, wears a black suit.By Karin M.McGinnis andLauren, a white woman with blond hair and bangs, wears wire-rimmed glasses, a royal blue blouse and gold necklace. Lauren Clemmons 

What’s Blowing Your Mind (WBYM) right now in privacy, data security, or AI?

We asked ourselves—and our colleagues in the field—the same question. The result? Kicking off the NCBA PDS Section’s “What’s Blowing Your Mind” series, which is meant to spark conversation around the thorny, timely, and occasionally mind-bending challenges facing practitioners today, from North Carolina to beyond.

We hope these clips ignite ideas, stir debate, and maybe even shift your perspective. First up: our Chair, Karin McGinnis, kicks things off with a July recording on the CPPA’s proposed regulations around automated decision-making. Read more

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Beyond the 9-to-5: Why Freelancing Could Be the Future of Work

Bonnie, a white woman with blond hair, wears a black dress and dark grey blazer. By Bonnie Keen

Work-life balance was the number one reason I began to think about the concept of being a freelance paralegal. At the time, I wasn’t even sure if it was a thing. After doing some research, I found a few people who had already started their businesses, and I was glad to know that, even though working as a freelance paralegal was a fairly new concept in the legal world, it existed!

We all have things in life that really make it hard to be physically present at an office between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Whether it’s caring for a terminally ill family member, having children or competitive hobbies that require attendance on some days of the week, there’s always something to interrupt the work day! I have personally experienced all three during my life, and even as children grow older, being a mom doesn’t get easier as the demand for your presence gets harder to juggle.

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How to Apply for Admission to Federal Courts

By Kayla BrittKayla, a white woman with auburn hair, wears a paisley colored burgundy top and burgundy blazer.

Efficiency is a lawyer’s best friend. Below, you will find a cheat sheet with information and resources you need to apply for admission to the United States District Courts of North Carolina, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States, with links to the various courts’ websites.

Before you begin digging through the requirements, you should verify whether your employer is willing to handle the application process and/or pay the fees on your behalf.  Also, you must be a member of the Supreme Court of North Carolina (or another state) for three years before you can apply for admission to the Supreme Court of the United States.

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Checking In: September 23, 2025

Compiled by Jessica Junqueira

Chester Opens Child’s Voice Law

Suzanne, a white woman with curly brown hair, wears a white sleeveless blouse with black flowers. She is wearing brown glasses.After practicing law in the nonprofit arena for almost 30 years, Suzanne Chester has opened her own small practice where she focuses on child-centered family law services. She spent most of her career at Legal Aid of North Carolina where she provided legal services for low-income clients in child custody, domestic violence, landlord tenant, and fair housing litigation. She spent the last eleven years directing The Child’s Advocate at LANC and promoting legal representation for children at the national level. Chester earned a Ph.D. in the humanities from Louisiana State University and a J.D. from UNC School of Law.

Smith Anderson Welcomes Of Counsel

Ralph, a white man with grey hair, wears a white shirt, blue tie and black suit.Ralph Strayhorn is now of counsel with the firm. Strayhorn has more than 40 years of experience in executive leadership in banking and other industries. He is executive chairman of New Republic Partners, Inc. and New Republic Bank in Charlotte, where he formerly served as president and CEO. Strayhorn was appointed by the governor and reappointed by the speaker of the House to serve as chair of the Golden LEAF Foundation. Strayhorn graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received his undergraduate degree, and from UNC School of Law.

Moore & Van Allen Announce Future Relocation

An image of the new two buildings and a city skyline is shown. They are silver and there is sunlight behind them.

Moore & Van Allen announced it will relocate its Charlotte office from the Bank of America Corporate Center to Tower Two at Queensbridge Collective in 2028.

The firm’s new office building will be constructed at 1111 South Tryon Street, a location connecting Charlotte’s South End and Uptown districts. The firm’s offices will span nine contiguous floors of the 43-story building. This new space will increase the firm’s current square footage from 165,000 square feet to 206,000 square feet. Some of the features of this new location include one full acre of outdoor green space, a 10,000 square foot fitness and wellness facility and meeting and event space within the building and outdoors, including a rooftop terrace.

Once completed, the construction will be the eighth-tallest building in Charlotte. The building will be constructed by Riverside Investment & Development and is expected to be completed in 2028.

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A Welcome Message From the Chair

Jim, a white man with brown hair, wears a white shirt with a green tie and black blazer.By Jim Lanik

Dear Members of the Bankruptcy Section,

I am excited to welcome you to a new bar year. Each new year gives us the chance to set priorities, strengthen our community, and build on the successes of the past.

One of the issues that came through clearly in our recent member survey was the need to explore exemption reform. This is an area that impacts practitioners across the state, and we will be working to ensure that your voices are part of that important conversation.

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Welcome to the Dispute Resolution Section

Deb, a white woman with grey blonde hair, wears a teal dress. By Deborah Dilman

Dear members of the NCBA Dispute Resolution Section and other members of NCBA:

The new bar year has begun! Welcome to the 2025-2026 bar year of the NCBA. I come to you as a humble servant, being asked to sit as the chair of this year’s Dispute Resolution Section. I look forward to continuing to build a strong section that serves as a crossover with several other sections of the NCBA. Those who came before me have done a tremendous amount of work raising awareness about the importance of conflict resolution and using all tools available to us as attorneys to counsel and advocate for our clients.

This year, I am thrilled to report we are continuing with our successful roundtable discussions. The first is being held September 17, 2025. These roundtable discussions were wildly successful last year, and we hope to continue the momentum this year! And, if you have any suggestions for topics to discuss, please reach out to me or to George Doyle, who is coordinating the roundtable discussions for us this year.

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Before You Hit “Record,” Transparency Comes First

Stephen, a white man with light brown hair and black glasses, wears a pale blue shirt, blue tie, and black suit.By Stephen Domer

In recent months, several SaaS salespeople began our Zoom and Teams meetings online with what appeared to be additional invitees on the call. The additional invitees turned out to be recording features, but none of these salespeople provided advance warning nor did they request consent to record our calls. When I requested removal of any recording and transcription feature, at least one salesperson initially responded that their organization adds it to all calls by default and he did not know how to remove it. This experience raises important legal considerations, especially when none of the parties to the call or meeting adds the recording device.

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Paralegal Spotlight: Sarah Maha

By Lakisha Chichester

The Calm at the Center of a Global Legal Team

A Career with Depth and Heart

Sarah, a woman with brown hair, wears a burgundy blouse and gold necklace.

Sarah Maha

Sarah Maha began her career path at Meredith College in the Legal Assistant Program in Raleigh. After completing the program, she gained invaluable experience at a small law firm in Sarasota, Florida, where she wore many hats. She handled wills, estates, probate, real estate, and more.

While her Florida firm gave her a strong foundation, Sarah returned to North Carolina to build on her legal career. In 1997, she joined the legal department at BASF, where she spent many years honing her expertise.

In 2013, Sarah joined Workplace Options, a company she has proudly called home ever since. On May 1, 2025, Workplace Options was purchased by TELUS Health, Inc., a transition that brought both new opportunities and challenges as the two companies merged.

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What is a QSub?

John, a white man with dark brown hair, wears a pale blue shirt, lime green and blue tie, and black suit. By John G. Hodnette

As discussed in my February 2025 blog post Eligible S Corporation Shareholders, corporations generally cannot own the stock of S corporations, even if the owner is itself an S corporation. However, where an S corporation is the 100% owner of another corporation, it can make an election for the subsidiary to be a qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub).

Section 1361(b)(3)(A) provides a corporation that is a QSub is not treated as a separate corporation and “all assets, liabilities, and items of income, deduction, and credit of a [QSub] shall be treated as assets, liabilities, and such items (as the case may be) of the S corporation.” That means the S corporation owner of the QSub reports all of the QSubs’s activities on the S corporation parent’s Form 1120S, treating the QSub as a disregarded entity for income tax purposes.

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“Yellowstone” Meets North Carolina: Condemnation Law on the Ranch and the Road

By Kayla BrittKayla, a white woman with auburn hair, wears a paisley colored burgundy top and burgundy blazer.

Television dramas rarely get the law exactly right, but sometimes they spark conversations that resonate with those of us in practice. The series Yellowstone explores struggles over landownership, government power, and private rights in a way that reaches beyond Montana. While the show takes liberties, its themes echo real issues in North Carolina condemnation law.

In Yellowstone, the Dutton family resists outside efforts to take or control their ranch. Condemnation, or eminent domain, is portrayed as a weapon of powerful interests. The narrative is heightened for television, but the underlying legal principle is familiar. The government may acquire private property for public use if just compensation is provided.

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