New YLD Lunch and Learn Series

The North Carolina Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division is hosting a new four-part Lunch and Learn Series focused on various practice areas. Every third Wednesday at 12 p.m., you will hear from one of our liaisons and YLD council about what it’s like to work in their practice areas. The first series will be held on Feb. 17, 2021, at 12 p.m. and will cover Sports and Entertainment Law.

Learn what it takes to be a sports and entertainment lawyer, what a typical day is like, and what some of the pros and cons are, and ask questions and network with fellow YLD members! Whether you are a young lawyer, transitioning lawyer, or law student, find out what it’s like to work in various practice areas and the best way to position yourself to get there.

Our first speaker, Whitney Frye, works closely in the sports industry as the Director of SafeSport for USA Basketball. She works on compliance issues to ensure the safety of the athletes. Our second speaker, Alexa Whiteside, works as production and distribution legal counsel in the motion picture, TV, and new media industries. Some of Alexa’s representative clients include working as general counsel for such companies as Hybrid, LLC (known for such titles as Hallmark’s “Sharing Christmas,” Vivica A. Fox’s Lifetime “Wrong” series, and Netflix’s “Secret Obsession”) and Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud! network.

See both speakers’ full bios below!

Here’s an inside look on how the Lunch and Learn Series will work:

YLD Lunch and Learn will be held virtually each month (February through May), on every third Wednesday, for 30 minutes during lunch time (12:00 – 12:30 pm)
YLD liaisons and YLD executive council members will team up to talk about the YLD liaisons’ practice areas. (Ex. International law, Sports and Entertainment, Employment.)
YLD liaisons will casually talk for the first ten minutes about their practice areas and what they do on a day-to-day basis.
After the ten minutes are up, we will open the room for questions and networking.
The YLD executive council member will ask a few prepared questions to get the room warmed up, but anyone can start the party!

Why you should join:

You will have the opportunity to network with fellow YLD members in your practice area or learn more about a new area and meet new colleagues!

Speaker Bios

Whitney Frye is Director of SafeSport for USA Basketball. As Director of SafeSport, her responsibilities include ensuring compliance with all aspects of USA Basketball’s SafeSport program in addition to working with the U.S. Center for SafeSport and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), to ensure the safety of USAB’s athletes and those whom they serve.

Alexa Whiteside became an associate at Ramo Law PC after graduating magna cum laude (top 5%) from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles in 2017. Licensed in both North Carolina and California, Alexa has worked remotely for the firm from Davidson, North Carolina since 2019. She provides comprehensive production, distribution, and delivery legal services to producers and filmmakers in the creation of their film, television, and digital content. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Alexa was a New York City filmmaker who worked as an independent producer, unit production manager, casting associate, and advisor to a variety of short and independent films working during that time, both as freelance and for such companies as Susan Shopmaker Casting and Creative Artists Agency.

Moderated by Sheila Spence, Esq. Sheila Spence serves as Corporate Counsel for a healthcare technology company with headquarters outside of Los Angeles, C.A. Previously she worked as a Staff Attorney and Strategic Policy Consultant at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. She provides transactional support for various business areas concerning privacy, data security, technology, corporate, and employment law matters.

Sheila Spence was recently honored as the recipient of the Charles F. Blanchard Young Lawyer of the Year Award by the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA) Young Lawyers Division (YLD) for her distinguished and meritorious community service to the bar. Sheila has been an active member of the NCBA since starting law school in 2014. During her tenure, she served as the YLD Division Director for Community Service Programs and led as the Legal LINK program chair. She has also served in various NCBA sections including the Corporate Counsel Section, CLE committee, the Sports and Entertainment Section, membership chair, and Minorities in the Profession committee.

For questions about this series, please contact Sheila at [email protected].

February 5, 2021/by NCBA YLD