Laura Loyek is a claims attorney with Lawyers Mutual, focusing in the areas of real estate, litigation, appellate law, and bankruptcy. Prior to joining Lawyers Mutual in 2009, Laura practiced for six years in the areas of complex commercial litigation and land use/zoning. Laura received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University. She is an active member of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys and the Real Property Section of the North Carolina Bar Association.
Attorney Alan Barnes was at the top of his game. He was 58 and had spent years building a thriving practice. His work included trusts and estates, general business, and real estate matters. In a moment, everything stopped when Alan suffered a massive stroke.
For several days, he remained unconscious and c… Read More
2021 STATE BAR ETHICS OPINIONS
The North Carolina State Bar adopted six new ethics opinions in 2021. These opinions cover a range of topics, including issues that are a regular source of calls to Lawyers Mutual:
2019 FEO 4 – Communications with Judicial Officials (adopted July 2021)
This r… Read More
If the calls we receive at Lawyers Mutual are any indication, there has been a significant increase in estate litigation in recent years. A consequence of all that litigation is that estate planning attorneys are regularly receiving requests for their client files. The request may take the form of an informal p… Read More
Identifying your client in estate and trust matters. Read More
Examples of common estate planning errors. Read More
Common estate planning errors Lawyers Mutual is seeing and how to avoid them. Read More
Tips to avoid falling for counterfeit check scams, which are on the rise again. Read More
A look at how contracting with internet law firms can cause issues for NC attorneys. Read More
The discussion of a scenario where there is no coverage for a claim under a policy. Read More
In February 2015, I was sworn in as a Wake County Guardian Ad Litem volunteer. GALs are assigned to advocate for all children who come into the care of Wake County. My work as a GAL includes visiting with the child at least once a month, working closely with social workers, contacting various people… Read More
Updated information regarding variations on wire instructions fraud attempts. Read More
In May, the North Carolina State Bar and Lawyers Mutual warned about fraudulent activity related to wired funds in real estate transactions. The scam described in those alerts involved communications from a purported seller or realtor asking the attorney to modify the way closing proceeds should be delive… Read More
Some of the most common practice management questions we receive at Lawyers Mutual relate to file retention and destruction. New lawyers want to set up an organized, efficient document management system to meet the needs of their practice. Retiring lawyers want to know what to do with all the paper … Read More
At its April meeting, the State Bar Ethics Committee published a proposed ethics opinion (2015 FEO 4) about disclosing potential malpractice claims to clients. Communicating with a client about a mistake is never easy, but avoiding that difficult conversation can have serious consequences. The propo… Read More
An interview with John Hester looking back on 30 years with Lawyers Mutual Read More
