Commit to Crafting Yourself as a Top-Shelf Brand of Professionalism

Amy, a white woman with brown hair, wears a white blouse and blue blazer. By Amy H. Wooten

“Professionalism.” It’s not a complicated nor hard-to-understand word or concept. At times, being professional is second nature, particularly when those around us exhibit professionalism. When emails are courteous, deadlines are respected, conversations — while sounding in advocacy — are appropriately measured and poignant disagreements remain civil, being professional can feel like the default setting we are called upon to honor in our profession. Unfortunately, this is often not the environment in which our commitment to professionalism is tested. It is when emails belittle and insult, and deadlines are ignored (or are unjustly extended), causing chaos for our professional and personal schedules, conversations are strained and even minor disagreements mushroom into blowups — these are the times when the call to be professional is often taxed. When a co-counsel cuts corners or takes credit that is not theirs; when a client lashes out in frustration; when a judge’s patience wears thin; or when we find ourselves treated in a way that feels disrespectful, unfair or deliberately provocative, those are the moments where many of us must dig deep to ensure professionalism is more than aspirational for us and is instead a core component of who we are.

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Bringing Water to the Desert, Part Six

Judge Debra Sasser, a white woman with brown hair and brown glasses, wears a purple blouse and pale purple jacket. By Judge Debra Sasser

In Part One, “Bringing Water to the Desert (on a Horse With No Name),” Judge Vince Rozier (Resident Superior Court Judge in the Tenth Judicial District) and Judge Beth Tanner (District Court Judge in the Twenty-Ninth Judicial District) began a conversation on how attorney shortages in legal deserts negatively impact the ability of the State to provide court-appointed attorneys.

In Part Two, Judge Tanner and Judge Rozier addressed concerns on recruiting and retaining attorneys on the court-appointed list, briefly touching on how simple tweaks to case management procedures can address some of the issues preventing attorneys from accepting court-appointed cases. 

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Bringing Water to the Desert, Part Five

Judge Debra Sasser, a white woman with brown hair and brown glasses, wears a purple blouse and pale purple jacket. By Judge Debra Sasser

In Part One, “Bringing Water to the Desert (on a Horse With No Name),” Judge Vince Rozier (Resident Superior Court Judge in the Tenth Judicial District) and Judge Beth Tanner (District Court Judge in the Twenty-Ninth Judicial District) began a conversation on how attorney shortages in legal deserts negatively impact the ability of the State to provide court-appointed attorneys.

In Part Two, Judge Tanner and Judge Rozier addressed concerns on recruiting and retaining attorneys on the court-appointed list, briefly touching on how simple tweaks to case management procedures can address some of the issues preventing attorneys from accepting court-appointed cases.

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Bringing Water to the Desert, Part Four

Judge Debra Sasser, a white woman with brown hair and brown glasses, wears a purple blouse and pale purple jacket. By Judge Debra Sasser

In Part One, “Bringing Water to the Desert (on a Horse With No Name),” Judge Vince Rozier (Resident Superior Court Judge in the Tenth Judicial District) and Judge Beth Tanner (District Court Judge in the Twenty-Ninth Judicial District) began a conversation on how attorney shortages in legal deserts negatively impact the ability of the State to provide court-appointed attorneys.

In Part Two, Judge Tanner and Judge Rozier addressed concerns on recruiting and retaining attorneys on the court-appointed list, briefly touching on how simple tweaks to case management procedures can address some of the issues preventing attorneys from accepting court-appointed cases.

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Bringing Water to the Desert, Part Three

Judge Debra Sasser, a white woman with brown hair and brown glasses, wears a purple blouse and pale purple jacket. By Judge Debra Sasser

In Part One, “Bringing Water to the Desert (on a Horse With No Name),” Judge Vince Rozier (Resident Superior Court Judge in the Tenth Judicial District) and Judge Beth Tanner (District Court Judge in the Twenty-Ninth Judicial District) began a conversation on how attorney shortages in legal deserts negatively impact the ability of the State to provide court-appointed attorneys.

In Part Two, Judge Tanner and Judge Rozier addressed concerns on recruiting and retaining attorneys on the court-appointed list, briefly touching on how simple tweaks to case management procedures can address some of the issues preventing attorneys from accepting court-appointed cases.

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Bringing Water to the Desert, Part Two

Judge Debra Sasser, a white woman with brown hair and brown glasses, wears a purple blouse and pale purple jacket. By Judge Debra Sasser

Welcome to Part Two of the six-part video series, “Bringing Water to the Desert.”

In Part One, “Bringing Water to the Desert (on a Horse With No Name),” Judge Vince Rozier (Resident Superior Court Judge in the Tenth Judicial District) and Judge Beth Tanner (District Court Judge in the Twenty-Ninth Judicial District) began a conversation on how attorney shortages in legal deserts negatively impact the ability of the State to provide court-appointed attorneys.

There is no doubt that the income from court-appointed representation falls far below what attorneys earn from privately retained clients.[1] But an increase in IDS rates would only address one of the issues affecting participation on the court-appointed lists.

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Bringing Water to the Desert (on a Horse With No Name)

Judge Debra Sasser, a white woman with brown hair and brown glasses, wears a purple blouse and pale purple jacket. By Judge Debra Sasser

Imagine you are standing in front of a judge wearing a jumpsuit issued by the local county jail. You are standing alone, even though the judge told you at your first appearance that she was appointing an attorney to represent you.

Imagine hearing the judge now tell you that no one has been assigned to represent you, and that she doesn’t know when an attorney will be assigned.

Then imagine returning to your jail cell with no assurance that an attorney will be available on your next court date.

This is a reality for some criminal defendants in North Carolina.

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Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Professionalism in Attorney Departures

By Amy, a white woman with brown hair, wears a black blouse and jacket. Amy E. Richardson

Few moments test the professionalism of lawyers and law firms more than a lawyer’s departure. While the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct — and recent ethics opinions like 2025 FEO 1 and 2021 FEO 6 — provide clear direction on what lawyers must do when a departure occurs, professionalism asks a bigger question: what should law firms and departing lawyers do to serve clients, colleagues, and the public during this transition? As a lawyer who has helped lawyers and law firms deal with departures, there are best practices that firms and lawyers should consider.

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The Annual H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award

Paul, a white man with grey hair and a mustache, wears a white shirt, black tie and black blazer. By Paul B. Taylor

Each year, beginning in January, the North Carolina Bar Association Professionalism Committee reviews nominations for the H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award and recommends an awardee to the Board of Governors. The award is announced publicly and given to the awardee at the North Carolina Bar Association annual meeting in June.

The NCBA H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award was established by the North Carolina Bar Association in honor of United States District Court Judge for the Western District of North Carolina H. Brent McKnight’s contributions to professionalism and the practice of law in North Carolina, and in recognition of his enduring influence, high ideals, and example as a jurist whose life and career demonstrated the full, accomplished life of a “Renaissance Lawyer.” Judge McKnight was born in Mooresville, North Carolina, in 1952. He received a bachelor’s degree from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1974, a master’s degree from Magdalen College at Oxford University in 1976, where he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and a law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1980.

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16 Years in the Trenches: Reflections From a 2009-Vintage Family Law Lawyer

By Kris HilscherKris, a white man with brown hair and a beard, wears a white shirt, teal tie, and navy blazer.

I started practicing law the same year that the iPhone 3G came out, and everyone thought the economy was just taking a long weekend. A lot has changed — Zoom hearings, e-filing, the fact that associates now ask for “mental health days” instead of pretending they have the flu, just to name a few. One thing hasn’t changed: if we want the privilege of calling ourselves lawyers, we have to earn it every morning.

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