By Joyce Brafford Tech gurus know that nothing pleases a fellow techie like a new gadget for the holidays. Here are my top five picks for the techies you love. Although, you just may keep a few for yourself. For the Cord Cutter: Mohu Releaf 30, $29.99 This is a wonderful gift for anyone who has, […]
By Camille Stell In recent weeks, Lawyers Mutual has received multiple reports of North Carolina attorneys who were targeted by scammers attempting to divert seller closing proceeds following real estate transactions. Unfortunately, several of these attacks were successful and hundreds of thousands of dollars were stolen and are very unlikely to be recovered. Often, paralegals […]
By Murphy Fletcher I imagine that, if you are reading this blog, you have heard the big news: after 5 p.m. on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, a federal judge in Texas issued an order granting a nationwide preliminary injunction that will prevent the DOL overtime regulations from going into effect today, Dec. 1, as everyone […]
By Jonathan Wall In Beverage Sys., LLC v. Associated Beverage Repair, LLC, 368 N.C. 693, 784 S.E.2d 457 (2016), the North Carolina Supreme Court clarified that North Carolina adheres to the “strict blue pencil rule;” that is, a trial court may strike distinct unreasonable restrictions in a noncompetition agreement but may not re-write provisions in […]
By Andrew J. Henson and Michael A. Kornbluth A growing practice among employers is to require new hires to sign a Training Cost Agreement (TCA), which puts employees on the hook for the cost of their on-the-job training if they quit or are fired before completing a period of years of work for the employer. […]
By Steven Snyder Most of us have seen the headlines over the past couple years about massive data breaches affecting millions of people. We have all likely received at least one letter notifying us that our confidential information may have been implicated in one of these breaches. The reason for this is that most states […]
By Daniel Becker Many applicants make the mistake of waiting until they have an ideal embodiment reduced to a high degree of precision before drafting a patent application. While skillful application drafting is important to the value of the patent, it is a mistake to presume that one should wait to file until the invention […]
By Nicole Patino “I kept asking how I could improve, but my supervisor would never tell me what I was doing wrong, and when I was fired, it came out of the blue.” It’s a complaint that we repeatedly hear as clients come into our offices, sure that they are victims of wrongful termination. They […]
By Amber Nimocks Darryl and Nannie Howard banter gently, laughing and smiling a bit like newlyweds, a bit like the long-married couple they are. Their ease and happiness with each other seem to belie the 24 years of physical separation they have endured. Until late this summer, Howard was imprisoned, serving time for crimes he […]
By Matt Cordell Most demographic experts define the “millennial” generation as those born in or after 1981. The Young Lawyers Division of the NCBA comprises law students, lawyers 36 years old or younger, and lawyers of any age in their first three years of practice. This means that the Young Lawyers Division is now almost […]