Jay Reeves practiced law in North Carolina and South Carolina. He was Legal Editor at Lawyers Weekly and Risk Manager at Lawyers Mutual. He is the author of The Most Powerful Attorney in the World, a collection of short stories from a law life well-lived, which as the seasons pass becomes less about law and liability and more about loss, love, longing, laughter and life's lasting luminescence.
(Excerpted from “Designing a Succession Plan for Your Law Practice,” by Tom Lenfestey and Camille Stell. See below for information on ordering the book.) Life is not a checklist. Exit, retirement, selling, succession. Death, disability, disbarment. Simply thinking about these topics –… Read More
One factor that is contributing to Zoom fatigue is having to work extra hard to communicate your thoughts and feelings accurately. Ordinary cues like body language and tone of voice are missing. Spatial context is gone. It is difficult to be precise, especially in group conferences when you may only ha… Read More
Being recognized as an expert in your practice field – not just by your peers but also your state licensing authority – can set you apart in a crowded, competitive profession. Attorneys in North Carolina can become board-certified in the following areas: Appellate Practice; Bankruptcy Law Business;… Read More
A knowledge of the basic vocabulary of e-discovery is essential for your litigation practice. And not just you. It’s important that your entire team have a good working knowledge of e-discovery terms as well. They should know, for instance, the difference between active data and archival data, and exactl… Read More
A lawyer licensed in New Jersey but practicing remotely from his home in Florida is not committing the unlicensed practice of law. That’s according to a May 20 advisory ethics opinion issued by the Florida Supreme Court. The attorney had requested the advisory ruling. He wanted to know if he cou… Read More
Did you know that one in four vulnerable older adults will report having been abused in the previous month? Or that there are five common types of elder abuse, including some behaviors like name-calling and destruction of property that often go unrecognized or unseen? June 15 has been designated Elder Abuse A… Read More
It may well be that “Lights, Camera, Action!” is not your idea of practicing law, but getting a grasp on the basics of video marketing could work wonders in your practice. A whopping 96 percent of consumers said they watched more videos during the pandemic, according to this 2020 survey. Fo… Read More
If you don’t already have a law firm newsletter, you’ve probably thought of starting one. But the challenges involved – from choosing a platform to coming up with content – might have kept the idea on your to-do list for weeks, months, perhaps even years. There’s no better time… Read More
A one-hour CLE on the five-year eCourts initiative from the NC Administrative Office of Courts is now available online. The on-demand course, From Paper to Digital: The eCourts Update, is a one-hour general update on the Judicial Branch’s sweeping eCourts Initiative to modernize our cou… Read More
An opinion that addresses ethical pitfalls in contemporaneous residential real estate closings has been issued by the NC State Bar. In 2021 Formal Ethics Opinion 1, approved at the State Bar Council’s quarterly meeting in April, the State Bar Council discusses conflicts of interest, communication… Read More
One lesson the pandemic made painfully clear is the importance of being an early adapter. Firms that were prepared to deal with the overnight demand for video conferencing did fine, while those blindsided by the technological, logistical and security challenges of working remotely suffered. The trick, then, i… Read More
Within that opening line to A Tale of Two Cities lies the secret to a long and happy Law Life. Read More
Confused like the rest of the universe about blockchain? Then what probably won’t help is to be told that blockchain is a complex type of distributed ledger technology housed on either a public or private network that records financial transactions without the need of a third-party facilitator. What mig… Read More
April was Guardian ad Litem and Child Advocate Month in North Carolina, but you can support the 5,000 GAL volunteers – or become a volunteer yourself – any day of the year. Child Advocate Month, recognized by a proclamation from Governor Roy Cooper, acknowledges the importance of families an… Read More
A group of lawyers who took a “treasure trove” of proprietary data when they left a Boston law firm may be liable for unfair or deceptive business practices. That’s according to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled for the plaintiff Governo Law Firm in a suit it had b… Read More
For lawyers handling real estate closings, it’s important to know that seller fraud continues to rise, especially with the upcoming holiday season when distractions are high, and fraudsters are active.
Lawyers Mutual has published previous alerts regarding the new filing requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) that went into effect January 1, 2024. After reviewing additional resources, we want to emphasize concerns that we have about the risks and increased potential liability for lawyers undertaking the reporting requirements. This is especially true for the continuing reporting requirements after entity formation and initial reporting.