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.

The Magic of Law Firm Data Analysis

Raise your hand if you love nothing more than spending long hours analyzing your law firm’s data. What, no raised hands? How about this one: raise your hand if you want to know who is interested in retaining your services and how to reach them quickly and efficiently? Okay, hands down. It might surp… Read More

ABA Encourages Use of Court Facility Dogs

  You can expect to see more dogs – the actual furry, tail-wagging kind – in courtrooms in the future. In February, the ABA adopted a resolution supporting the use of facility dogs, which are canines specially trained to comfort vulnerable witnesses during testimony. Currently, there are at … Read More

Child Welfare Law is Proposed as New Specialty

  A new practice specialty in Child Welfare Law has been proposed by the NC State Bar.  At its January meeting, the State Bar council published the proposal and requested comments on it. The standards for the proposed specialty are comparable to the standards for the other specialty certifications. … Read More

Report Your 2020 Pro Bono Hours by March 31

  Have you reported your 2020 pro bono hours yet? Don’t worry, it’s not mandatory to report your pro bono efforts – or even to do pro bono work at all. But Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1 says North Carolina attorneys should “aspire to render at least (50) hours of pro bono publ… Read More

State Bar Addresses Ethical Duties in Wire Fraud Scenarios

  A new State Bar ethics opinion addresses a lawyer’s professional duties in the event of a fraudulent wire transfer in a real property transaction. The opinion is NC 2020 FEO 5, approved by the State Bar on January 15. It is mandatory reading for lawyers who practice real estate and other areas o… Read More

Bar Grievances Declined in 2020

  The NC State Bar opened 927 new grievance files against attorneys in 2020, down from the 1,258 files opened in 2019. Over the course of the year, the Grievance Committee considered 763 grievances and dismissed 538 of them (73 percent). Eleven files were dismissed and retained because the respondent law… Read More

Here’s How Clients Choose a Lawyer

If you want to attract new business, stop thinking like a lawyer and start thinking like a client.  Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective client. How do they go about finding a lawyer? What do they want to know before picking one? What factors – price, availability, experience – sway th… Read More

How to Convince Your Firm to Let You Work Remotely

  If you want your team to buy into your firm’s remote work policy, be sure to let them know that working from home is neither a perk nor a privilege. It’s a way to keep them and their families safe and healthy. A side benefit: it boosts your ability to recruit and retain top talent. And if … Read More

False News Spreads 70 Percent Faster Online

Here’s a risk management reminder: the ethical obligation to be truthful about your services as a lawyer is even more crucial when you’re posting something online. That’s because fake news is 70 percent more likely to be shared and spread than real news. And the more dramatic the information,… Read More

A Friendly Reminder About Your 2021 State Bar Dues

Have you paid your 2021 State Bar dues? Payments were due January 1 but are not considered late if received/postmarked on or before June 30. The State Bar sent the annual fee notices to lawyers via email in November 2020. Lawyers can log in and pay their 2021 dues online. At Lawyers Mutual, we don… Read More

Are You A Passive-Aggressive Emailer?

  If you routinely send emails that begin with “Per my last email” or “Per our conversation” or “Not sure you saw my prior email,” congratulations. You’re a passive-aggressive emailer. Don’t take it personally. We’re all guilty of sending the occasio… Read More

How to Rid Your Law Office of Kryptonite

In the law office, stress is a type of kryptonite that saps your team’s creativity and sabotages its outcomes.  And those negative effects aren’t just confined to the office. They’re carried home as well.  In a recent survey, a majority of workers said work stress is the number one… Read More

Exposing the Innovation Gap in the Law

The overwhelming majority of in-house lawyers say innovation is a top priority at their companies, and many are frustrated that their outside firms don’t feel the same way. One of the biggest obstacles to innovation: a misconception about what Artificial Intelligence is and what it can do for a law fir… Read More