Checking In: February 23, 2026

Compiled by Jessica Junqueira

Martin H. Brinkley Selected to Receive Faculty Service Award from The University of North Carolina Alumni Association

Dean Brinkley, a white man with brown hair, wears tortoiseshell-colored round glasses, a blue shirt, a tan suit, and a brown bowtie.Martin H. Brinkley has been selected as a 2026 Carolina Alumni Award recipient by the University of North Carolina’s Alumni Association. Brinkley and other honorees will be recognized in a ceremony on April 17. Brinkley is a Kenan Distinguished Professor at Carolina Law, where he teaches first year property, business associations and legal history. He served as the dean of UNC School of Law from 2015 to 2025. He is a graduate of UNC School of Law, where he served as executive articles editor for the North Carolina Law Review. Prior to law school, he studied papyrology at the University of Cologne’s Institute for Ancient Studies. Brinkley received an A.B. degree in classics from Harvard University. He was a clerk to Chief Judge Sam J. Ervin, III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He practiced corporate law in Raleigh for 22 years.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP Attorney Named Fellow of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers

Christian, a white woman with red hair, wears a maroon blouse and black jacket.The American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers (ACCFSL) has elected Christy W. Hancock as a fellow. Hancock, along with the new class of fellows, will be honored in Atlanta at the organization’s annual dinner on April 18. Hancock is a partner in the firm’s Charlotte office. She assists mortgage servicing and financial institution clients. Hancock is a co-leader of the Banking & Financial Services Practice Group and the co-chair of the Home Equity Lending team and the Bankruptcy Compliance & Consumer Bankruptcy Litigation team. She holds her law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina.

 

New Firm Announcement: K Tyson Law

Kim, a white woman with brown hair, wears a grey blouse and black jacket.Kim Tyson has launched K Tyson Law in Charlotte. The firm serves clients throughout North Carolina and nationwide on federal tax matters, including charitable giving, disputes with the IRS, federal tax litigation and IRS collections. Tyson has over 20 years of experience working on tax issues at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and the U.S. Tax Court. At the IRS, Kim advised revenue agents and litigated cases in the Large Business & International and Litigation & Advisory Divisions. During her tenure, Kim was an IRS subject matter expert on penalties and a nationwide legal advisor on syndicated conservation easements. She was repeatedly recognized for outstanding contributions to the agency, including being awarded IRS Office of Chief Counsel Attorney of the Year among field attorneys nationwide. She received an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center, a law degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Frostburg State University.

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Should I Become an E-Notary?

Kelly, a white woman with brown hair, wears a dark blue suit.By Kelly Lynch

As legal practice continues its steady shift toward digital platforms, notarization is evolving alongside it. In North Carolina, electronic and remote notarization are now established components of legal operations under Chapter 10B of the North Carolina General Statutes.[1]

For paralegals, this development raises an important professional question: Is becoming an electronic notary (“e-Notary”) a strategic career move?

The answer depends on practice area, firm demand, and comfort with compliance-driven technology. This article provides a practical overview to help North Carolina paralegals evaluate whether e-Notary authorization aligns with their professional goals.

  • What Is an E-Notary in North Carolina?

Under North Carolina law, a commissioned notary public may apply to perform electronic notarizations.[2] The state recognizes two primary formats:

  • In-person electronic notarization, in which the signer appears physically before the notary but signs electronically.
  • Remote electronic notarization (“REN”), in which the signer appears through secure audio-visual communication technology, and identity verification procedures are conducted electronically.[3]

To perform either, an individual must first hold a valid North Carolina notary commission and then complete additional authorization requirements prescribed by the Secretary of State.

For paralegals who routinely coordinate document execution, e-Notary status allows a transition from logistical support to a more direct execution role.

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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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Basics of 338(h)(10) Elections

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

Section 338(h)(10) allows a buyer and seller in a qualified stock purchase to elect jointly for the sale of target stock to be treated for tax purposes as a sale of the target’s assets. That is beneficial to the buyer because the transaction is a stock sale for state law purposes (which avoids the need to transfer legal title to assets and the shifting of employees to a new entity) while obtaining a depreciable or amortizable cost basis in the underlying assets. That allows the buyer to depreciate the purchase price over time. The seller often does not prefer a 338(h)(10) election compared to a regular stock sale because the election may result in additional taxes to the seller compared to a regular stock sale. As a result, sometimes the seller will agree to the 338(h)(10) election in exchange for an upward adjustment in the purchase price paid by buyer. Because a 338(h)(10) election is a joint election requiring the consent of both buyer and seller, it cannot be made unless the parties agree.

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Asked and Answered: WIP Committee Members Share Their Goals for 2026

Diana, a woman with black hair, wears a white blouse, black blazer and gold necklace.Eleanor, a white woman with brown hair, wears a black dress, black blazer, and pearl necklace.By Diana Santos Johnson and Eleanor Panetti

For our first post of 2026, we asked our Committee members for input. Below are the questions we asked and the responses we received. Enjoy reading about what they learned in 2025, their goals for 2026 and why they joined the Women in the Profession Committee!

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Pro Bono Spotlight: Hannah Michalove

Hannah, a white woman with brown hair, wears a white shirt and black blazer.By Sidney Thomas

Hannah Michalove is a bilingual immigration attorney at Pisgah Legal Services in Asheville, where she began her position in October 2024 — just ten days after Hurricane Helene.

Hannah’s dedication to pro bono advocacy began as a law school student at Campbell University Law School, where she served as Chair of the Naturalization Project, a student-led pro bono initiative focused on assisting eligible immigrants with applications for U.S. citizenship. Through this work, she witnessed firsthand how access to legal assistance can foster family stability, civic participation, and long-term security.

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Resolutions With Results: Kick Off 2026 with YLD’s Legal Feeding Frenzy

Melissa, a white woman with brown hair, wears a green blouse and black blazer. Alex, a white woman with brown hair, wears a white blouse and black blazer. By Marissa Barbalato and Alexandria Tuttle

Each March, the NCBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) partners with Feeding the Carolinas to host the North Carolina Legal Feeding Frenzy, a statewide initiative dedicated to fighting hunger. This friendly competition invites law firms, law schools, sections and legal organizations to collect food and raise funds for local food banks across the state.

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Bargain-Sale Pitfalls and the “Eerie Veneer” of NCMA’s “Madonna and Child in a Landscape”

Kim, a white woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wears a pin and orange dress and blue blazer with a small off-white flower pin. She is seated in her office. By Kimberly B. Tyson

On February 18th, the Center for Art Law is sponsoring a lecture by Deborah Gerhard, the Paul B. Eaton Distinguished Professor of Law at UNC School of Law. The topic is the “Madonna and Child in a Landscape,” the famous (and infamous) piece that has adorned the North Carolina Museum of Art for decades. The original owner was an Austrian industrialist who fled Nazi-occupied Vienna in 1938, leaving his art collection with his niece. The Nazis allegedly confiscated the collection. In 1999, his heirs detailed this history to the NCMA. NCMA’s then-curator described the history as adding an “eerie veneer to the painting.” NCMA offered the painting back to the heirs, who reciprocated by selling the painting to NCMA at a price substantially below fair market value (i.e., a bargain sale).

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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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North Carolina Court of Appeals Enforces Out-of-State Arbitration Clause in Case of First Impression

Joey, a white man with light brown hair, wears a white shirt, red tie and black suit. By Joseph J. Garfunkel

In a case of first impression, the North Carolina Court of Appeals in Earnhardt Plumbing, LLC v. Thomas Builders, Inc., No. COA25-36 (N.C. Ct. App. Nov. 19, 2025) addressed whether a forum-selection clause using an “either-or” structure and granting one party discretion to choose the forum is mandatory or permissive under North Carolina law. In resolving that question, the court reaffirmed the strong preemptive force of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) over state statutes restricting out-of-state arbitration and clarified how North Carolina courts should interpret forum-selection clauses that do not use traditional exclusive language.

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