Serving as a law clerk for a judge is an enriching experience for newly minted lawyers. I know a number of attorneys, young and old alike, who look back on their time clerking fondly and consider it one of the best experiences — if not the best experience — of their legal career.
Having served as a law clerk for North Carolina judges for two years after finishing law school,
I hope that with this post I can provide some insight about positioning yourself to serve as an invaluable cog in the machine that is a judge’s chambers.
Why Clerk?
Whenever I speak with a law student or prospective law student, I always recommend that they consider clerking, and there are countless reasons why. It gives you the opportunity to engage in valuable public service and develop lasting personal and professional relationships with judges, fellow law clerks, and others. It exposes you to a wide array of areas of the law and allows you to learn about them firsthand, something that is particularly useful for individuals who, even upon graduating law school, are unsure as to exactly what field of law they want to (or do not want to) practice in.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00NCBA YLDhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngNCBA YLD2022-03-30 16:17:422022-10-24 12:53:16Want to Work as a Clerk? Tips for Aspiring Judicial Law Clerks
Many mediators describe themselves as reformed litigators – lawyers who have spent decades in the litigation trenches, fighting court battles for their clients. Then, at some point in their career, they have an epiphany – they realize that there is a better way to get their clients to where the client wants to be – past this dispute. It is the rare client who comes to a lawyer asking for as much total war as the lawyer can muster within the rules of court procedure. Instead, what the client wants is a resolution to a conflict. They want their problem solved.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00DisputeResolutionhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngDisputeResolution2022-03-24 16:18:332022-03-24 16:18:33Peace Award Recipient: John Sarratt
On January 21, 2022, the North Carolina State Bar Council issued 2021 Formal Ethics Opinion 6, which contains guidance for firms regarding their ethical responsibilities for a departing lawyer’s email account. The entire text of the Opinion can be found here.
In the adopted ethics opinion, the lawyer was departing a firm and opening his own law practice. However, the guidance will be helpful for any firm designing a policy around email accounts for departing lawyers, regardless of whether they retire, move to a new firm, or leave the practice of law altogether. Below is a table laying out key takeaways from the ethics opinion. If you have a similar situation, you should look to the text of the opinion for elaboration and clarification on each point below.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Bankruptcyhttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngBankruptcy2022-03-24 16:08:542022-03-24 16:08:54Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, but It Doesn’t Have to Be: Ethics Opinion Outlines Procedures for Departing Attorney’s Email Account
The Juvenile Justice and Children’s Rights Section annual CLE will be held April 1, 2022, from 9 a.m. to noon. You can attend in person or by live webcast. Register for the CLE here.
The CLE will consist of 3.0 MCLE hours, covering legislative changes in juvenile delinquency law, restorative justice, and family accountability and recovery court:
Chief Judge Elizabeth A. “Beth” Heath (North Carolina District Court for Judicial District 8, Kinston) will present on the Family Accountability and Recovery Court (FARC), which provides treatment, intensive care management, and judicial supervision to increase the likelihood of reunification of families in child welfare cases. Judge Heath has been the “driving force” behind FARC. Due to its success, FARC is now a nationally recognized model. In November 2021, it was selected by the National Center for State Court’s Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC) as one of nine Rural Innovation Sites that will serve as examples for other communities nationwide. Over the next three years, the RJC will work with FARC to create educational materials that will be featured on an online resource center, and will offer visits to FARC by leaders from other communities.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00JuvenileJusticehttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngJuvenileJustice2022-03-23 09:49:252022-03-23 09:49:25Juvenile Justice and Children's Rights Section Annual CLE – April 1, 2022
Tina Hlabse has joined Ramseur Maultsby. Hlabse engages in employment litigation, counseling, training, and workers’ compensation defense. She has more than 20 years of experience in litigation and counseling. Hlabse previously served as General Counsel for the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services and as a Special Deputy Attorney General with the Tort Claims section of the N.C. Department of Justice. Hlabse also worked in private practice. She graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law with a J.D. and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received a bachelor’s degree.
Daniel Goldstein Joins Bell and Howell
Daniel Goldstein has joined Bell and Howell as corporate counsel. Goldstein has prior experience in the areas of business law, intellectual property, litigation entertainment and sports law. He is a 2020 graduate of Campbell Law School, where he was a member of the Order of Old Kivett and received Book Awards for International Business and Criminal Procedure. He holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he double majored in political science and peace, war and defense and minored in history.
Welcome to the first post of the Outside the Office blog post series! Have you been missing the opportunity to connect with fellow Corporate Counsel Section members? Are you curious about the 524 other members in our fabulous section? Here’s your opportunity to get to know each other Outside the Office. Read more
The Paralegal Division has partnered with the Family Law Section to hold a Pro Se Custody and Family Law Advice Clinic for residents of Wake County. This clinic is a pilot program, and while it is currently limited to the Wake County area, the hope is that it can eventually be expanded to other counties around the state several times per year. In order for an individual to be assisted in the clinic, the individual must be a resident of Wake County or the biological parent of a child/children who live in Wake County.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00Paralegalshttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngParalegals2022-03-17 16:44:552022-03-17 16:44:55Volunteer Opportunity: NCBA Pro Se Custody and Family Law Advice Clinic
Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson, PA’s Blaine Sanders is not only committed to pro bono work in his own practice but in facilitating opportunities for others to serve as well. For over thirty-five years, Sanders has built a litigation practice focusing on commercial, real estate, employment, and sports & entertainment law, and he is a member of the NCBA’s Litigation and Employment sections. His pro bono practice, described by his colleagues as a “tremendous combination of pro bono work,” spans landlord/tenant matters, expungement cases, non-profit work, and more.
Want to Work as a Clerk? Tips for Aspiring Judicial Law Clerks
Young Lawyers DivisionServing as a law clerk for a judge is an enriching experience for newly minted lawyers. I know a number of attorneys, young and old alike, who look back on their time clerking fondly and consider it one of the best experiences — if not the best experience — of their legal career.
Having served as a law clerk for North Carolina judges for two years after finishing law school,
I hope that with this post I can provide some insight about positioning yourself to serve as an invaluable cog in the machine that is a judge’s chambers.
Why Clerk?
Whenever I speak with a law student or prospective law student, I always recommend that they consider clerking, and there are countless reasons why. It gives you the opportunity to engage in valuable public service and develop lasting personal and professional relationships with judges, fellow law clerks, and others. It exposes you to a wide array of areas of the law and allows you to learn about them firsthand, something that is particularly useful for individuals who, even upon graduating law school, are unsure as to exactly what field of law they want to (or do not want to) practice in.
Read more
YLD e-Blast: March 2022
Young Lawyers DivisionClaire O’Brien
Michael Cohen
By Claire O’Brien and Michael Cohen
DATES TO KNOW
March 29 | Can Recent Law School Grads Move In-House? Tips on How to Maximize Your Chances | 5:30 p.m.
April 2 | YLD Spring Quarterly Council Meeting and Annual Planning Meeting | 10 a.m.
April 2 | YLD Social and Headshot Event | 1:30 p.m.
April 6 | Young Lawyers Division Transactional Law Panel: What’s the Deal? Insights into Transactional Law | 6 p.m.
April 19 | Insurance Law, Workers’ Compensation and Young Lawyers Division Joint Networking Event | 5 p.m.
April 22 | 2nd Annual YLD Pro Bono Day | 11 a.m.
Read more
Specialist Series: Fourth Installment
Family Law SectionKetan Soni
Carolyn Krueger-Andes
By Ketan Soni and Carolyn “Lynn” Krueger-Andes
Being Special(ist)
Here are the high level results from our last post, as far as frequently missed questions:
1. Which of the following are acceptable in moving forward with an absolute divorce? (select all that apply) 3 / 22
2. What prior names may a woman resume upon obtaining an Absolute Divorce? (select all that apply) 2 / 22
3. Which of the following are the effects of an Absolute Divorce? 10 / 22
Read more
Peace Award Recipient: John Sarratt
Dispute Resolution SectionMany mediators describe themselves as reformed litigators – lawyers who have spent decades in the litigation trenches, fighting court battles for their clients. Then, at some point in their career, they have an epiphany – they realize that there is a better way to get their clients to where the client wants to be – past this dispute. It is the rare client who comes to a lawyer asking for as much total war as the lawyer can muster within the rules of court procedure. Instead, what the client wants is a resolution to a conflict. They want their problem solved.
Read more
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, but It Doesn’t Have to Be: Ethics Opinion Outlines Procedures for Departing Attorney’s Email Account
BankruptcyOn January 21, 2022, the North Carolina State Bar Council issued 2021 Formal Ethics Opinion 6, which contains guidance for firms regarding their ethical responsibilities for a departing lawyer’s email account. The entire text of the Opinion can be found here.
In the adopted ethics opinion, the lawyer was departing a firm and opening his own law practice. However, the guidance will be helpful for any firm designing a policy around email accounts for departing lawyers, regardless of whether they retire, move to a new firm, or leave the practice of law altogether. Below is a table laying out key takeaways from the ethics opinion. If you have a similar situation, you should look to the text of the opinion for elaboration and clarification on each point below.
Read more
Juvenile Justice and Children’s Rights Section Annual CLE – April 1, 2022
Juvenile Justice & Children's RightsBy Michelle F. Lynch
The Juvenile Justice and Children’s Rights Section annual CLE will be held April 1, 2022, from 9 a.m. to noon. You can attend in person or by live webcast. Register for the CLE here.
The CLE will consist of 3.0 MCLE hours, covering legislative changes in juvenile delinquency law, restorative justice, and family accountability and recovery court:
Chief Judge Elizabeth A. “Beth” Heath (North Carolina District Court for Judicial District 8, Kinston) will present on the Family Accountability and Recovery Court (FARC), which provides treatment, intensive care management, and judicial supervision to increase the likelihood of reunification of families in child welfare cases. Judge Heath has been the “driving force” behind FARC. Due to its success, FARC is now a nationally recognized model. In November 2021, it was selected by the National Center for State Court’s Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC) as one of nine Rural Innovation Sites that will serve as examples for other communities nationwide. Over the next three years, the RJC will work with FARC to create educational materials that will be featured on an online resource center, and will offer visits to FARC by leaders from other communities.
Read more
Checking In: March 22, 2022
Checking InCompiled by Jessica Junqueira
Ramseur Maultsby LLP Welcomes Tina Hlabse
Daniel Goldstein Joins Bell and Howell
Outside the Office: Featuring Greg Higgins
Corporate CounselWelcome to the first post of the Outside the Office blog post series! Have you been missing the opportunity to connect with fellow Corporate Counsel Section members? Are you curious about the 524 other members in our fabulous section? Here’s your opportunity to get to know each other Outside the Office. Read more
Volunteer Opportunity: NCBA Pro Se Custody and Family Law Advice Clinic
Paralegal DivisionBy the Paralegal Division Pro Bono Committee
The Paralegal Division has partnered with the Family Law Section to hold a Pro Se Custody and Family Law Advice Clinic for residents of Wake County. This clinic is a pilot program, and while it is currently limited to the Wake County area, the hope is that it can eventually be expanded to other counties around the state several times per year. In order for an individual to be assisted in the clinic, the individual must be a resident of Wake County or the biological parent of a child/children who live in Wake County.
Read more
Pro Bono Spotlight: Blaine Sanders
Pro Bono CommitteeBlaine Sanders
By Allison Standard Constance
Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson, PA’s Blaine Sanders is not only committed to pro bono work in his own practice but in facilitating opportunities for others to serve as well. For over thirty-five years, Sanders has built a litigation practice focusing on commercial, real estate, employment, and sports & entertainment law, and he is a member of the NCBA’s Litigation and Employment sections. His pro bono practice, described by his colleagues as a “tremendous combination of pro bono work,” spans landlord/tenant matters, expungement cases, non-profit work, and more.
Read more