Women’s History Month: 5 Reasons Firms Should Hire Female Attorneys

Kate, a white woman with wavy blond hair, wears a black dress and silver necklace. She is smiling.By Kate Rech

Men have historically dominated the legal profession. However, times are changing and more women are pursuing law degrees and legal industry jobs. According to a study done in 2021, women make up 55% of law students in the United States, nearly a 15% increase since 2000. Legal firms that strive to improve their gender diversity benefit from new perspectives and ideas that can lead to a forward-thinking culture and higher client retention rates. Just like their male counterparts, female lawyers have a lot to offer. Below are five reasons firms should hire female attorneys.

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Through Our Eyes – A Paralegal’s View into Spousal Support (Post-Separation Support and Alimony)

Peggy Pardue is a white woman with light brown, shoulder-length hair. she is wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a bright blue blouse. She is pictured smiling.By Peggy M. Pardue 

As a Family Law paralegal, assisting clients with regard to spousal support is an important skill. When a client comes to your office, they are often scared and concerned about their financial future. It is imperative to provide knowledge and expertise with respect to financial matters, while also being patient and understanding of the client’s concerns.

Helping a client navigate a spousal support case requires the paralegal to be knowledgeable of financial matters. Paralegals must also know how to obtain the documents necessary to calculate spousal support. As a matter of fact, there are potentially more documents needed for a spousal support case than in a child support case. Paralegals also need to understand how to do an analysis of their client’s monthly financial needs. This can be challenging because many people do not know how much their monthly expenses are, possibly due to the other spouse paying the bills. It is the paralegal’s duty to help clients determine how to obtain financial documents and what their expenses are. Paralegals need to know how to obtain online access to accounts, contact information for banks, find lender information for a mortgage, and other types of documents. Additionally, a paralegal must be able to assist clients in completing a financial analysis (Financial Affidavit) of their expenses. This is crucial to helping them determine how much support they need to survive each month. This can also be very time-consuming. Having tools at your fingertips to assist clients with document discovery and calculating their monthly expenses is critical to being a Family Law paralegal.

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Pro Bono Spotlight: Lorin Lapidus

Lorin, a white man with brown hair, wears a dark grey tie, pale grey shirt, and dark grey jacket.By Kaitlyn Fudge

“Our courts are designed to protect the stability of our law, and pro bono attorneys can play a role in that important tradition. Our courts work better when all parties have a say in the outcome, even those without sufficient means to participate.  Protecting an individual’s position safeguards the law at the same time, and as an officer of the court, I see that as my sincere duty.”

Who spoke these wise words? None other than Lorin Lapidus – a man who is a stellar example of someone who dedicates his legal services to pro bono work and cultivates a strong pro bono atmosphere at his firm.

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Nominate a Deserving Colleague for the Legal Practice Hall of Fame

Dan, a white man with white hair, wears a white shirt, maroon tie and black jacket.By Dan Hartzog

On behalf of the Selection Committee, I am reaching out to further encourage you to nominate a deserving lawyer for induction into the NCBA Legal Practice Hall of Fame. The nominations remain open until March 17, 2023.

I hope that you reviewed the comments included in a blog post from Ed Gaskins, encouraging members of the NCBA to nominate lawyers for induction into the Legal Practice Hall of Fame and giving special emphasis to the need for diversity. Those of us who are involved in this process fully support that emphasis. Ed’s blog was followed up by an excellent NC Lawyer magazine interview in which Judge Richard Doughton, the current Chair of the Senior Lawyers Division, and Judge Robert C. Hunter, the chair-elect of the SLD, seek more engagement for this section. They specifically reference the Hall of Fame and the banquet that will once again be held to allow the inductees and sponsors to share remarks. The reason that these fine members have spoken up about this topic is that they have personally observed how special an event this really is – not only for the inductees and sponsors, but for everyone who attends the banquets.

The Hall of Fame is designed to recognize a lifetime of exemplary service, high ethical and professional standards as a lawyer, and serving as a role model for all lawyers in North Carolina. I am sure that nearly all of you know lawyers who meet these criteria. As I have said before, one thing I can promise you is that it will mean more than you can know to that person – and to their family, friends, and colleagues.

Here are the official qualifications: a lawyer must have engaged in the practice of law for at least 30 years, primarily in North Carolina, and they must be a member in good standing of the North Carolina State Bar and the North Carolina Bar Association. The person must be living at the time of their nomination. They must have shown the highest standards of ethics and professional competency. And they must have given a high level of service to the bar and their communities.

Since it was founded in 1989, a total of 178 lawyers have been selected. These lawyers practice across the state, and since a change in name and scope in 2019 to include not only general practice lawyers but also lawyers with more focused practices, in a wide variety of practice areas.

Nominate an attorney for this award today.

Thanks for your time and attention. We look forward to hearing from you.

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John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award Recipient: Shelby Duffy Benton

Chelsea, a white woman with wavy brown hair, wears a black dress with small white dots.By Chelsea Gajewski

The John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award honors current and retired members of the North Carolina State Bar throughout the state who have demonstrated exemplary service to the legal profession. Members of the Bar nominate colleagues who they feel have demonstrated service to the profession. The criteria to be selected for this award includes, but is not limited to, furthering the public’s understanding of and confidence in the law and justice system; devoting time to leadership to ensure equal access to our justice system; pro bono work to those who have limited meals; and treating opposing counsel with courtesy and respect. You can learn more about this award on the North Carolina State Bar’s website.

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Section 1377(a)(2) Elections for S Corporations

John, a white man with brown hair and blue eyes, wears a blue jacket, white shirt, and blue tie. By John G. Hodnette

Section 1377(a)(1) generally provides each shareholder of an S corporation is allocated income or loss of the corporation by (a) assigning an equal portion of each item of income or loss to each day of the year, and (b) dividing that portion pro rata among the shares outstanding on that day. For example, if there is $365 of taxable income for the year, $1 of income is allocated to each day. That $1 is allocated among the shareholders pro rata based on stock ownership on that day.

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Paralegal Spotlight: Anna Skaggs’ Journey to Becoming a Paralegal

Peggy Pardue is a white woman with light brown, shoulder-length hair. she is wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a bright blue blouse. She is pictured smiling.

Peggy Pardue

By Peggy M. Pardue on behalf of the Communications Committee

Anna Skaggs is a North Carolina Certified Paralegal who was certified in 2016. She works for Collins Family & Elder Law Group in their Charlotte office.

Anna has been a Paralegal for her entire career and started her journey when she was just 19 years old. She will be celebrating 31 years in June of this year. Anna says, “when you know, you just know.” She had been considering law school but decided to look at the paralegal field. From the moment she sat in her first class at Marshall University, she never looked back or doubted that she made the right career choice. She is so thankful for the teachers, mentors, and attorneys who supported and guided her, and truly loves this work.

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The NCBA Health Law Section Council Needs You: Apply By March 1

Iain, a white man with brown hair, wears a pale blue shirt and grey suit.By Iain Stauffer 

The Health Law Section Council is the leadership of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Health Law Section. We are looking for interested health care attorneys to serve as members of the Section Council. Service on the Health Law Section is great networking and an excellent opportunity for service to our profession, health care providers, and the citizens of North Carolina that those providers serve.

Section Council members can be experienced healthcare attorneys or new attorneys just getting started. We welcome in-house, government and private practice attorneys.

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Calling all Patent Practitioners – Patent Pro Bono Program

Jennifer, a white woman with white hair, wears a peach blouse, pearls, and a black blazer. By Jennifer Knight

Why is Patent Pro Bono important? The demographics of inventors in the U.S. are not nearly as diverse as our society. For example, women represent 50% of the workforce, 27% of STEM workers, but only 13% of inventors. Black and Hispanic college graduates patent at roughly 50% of the rate of white graduates. Also, individuals born into the top 1% of family incomes are 10 times more likely to patent intellectual property than those born in the entire bottom half.

As part of the USPTO Patent Pro Bono Program, Georgia Patents and North Carolina Bar Foundation (NCBF) partner to serve low-wealth inventors of North Carolina and provide you with an opportunity to help a low-wealth individual work toward obtaining a patent. The inventors have a total household income less than 300% of the federal poverty guidelines (individual, $38,640; family of 4, $79,500). They have been screened to ensure that they have a basic understanding of the patent process, an invention ready for patenting, and they have conducted a prior art search. Georgia Patents does the screening and the North Carolina Bar Foundation matches inventors with volunteer Patent Attorneys and Patent Agents. NCBF provides malpractice insurance for NC Patent Attorneys. The inventors are responsible for all USPTO fees.

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Checking In: February 21, 2023

Compiled by Jessica Junqueira

Craige Jenkins Liipfert & Walker LLP Elects New Partner

Chrissy, a white woman with blond hair, wears a blue blouse and black sweater.

The firm announced that Crissy R. Dixon was elected to partner. Dixon focuses her practice on estate planning, estate administration, trust administration and taxation. She received a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2016, where she served as the Editor in Chief of Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy and was honored with the Outstanding Female Law Graduate award. She holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Cranfill Sumner LLP Welcomes New Associate

Elizabeth, a white woman with brown hair and glasses, wears a white blouse and black blazer.

Elizabeth Leonard has joined the firm’s Charlotte office. Her practice is focused on construction law and civil litigation. She has prior experience practicing civil litigation with a focus on construction law, personal injury, and other liability matters. Before becoming an attorney, she was a writer and editor.  She received a J.D. from the William & Mary Law School, where she was a Review Articles Editor and Legal Practice Writing Fellow. Leonard holds a B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan University.

Hannah Sheridan & Cochran Adds New Attorney

Aaron, a white man with black hair, wears a dark blue tie and black jacket.

Aaron Gavin has joined the firm. Gavin is a 2022 graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law. While in law school, he served as a research assistant for Alyse Bertenthal. Gavin has experience serving as a volunteer to veterans, children, the homeless and to his church community. He graduated from Auburn University with a double major in history and economics.

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