Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Home (page 4)

Author Archives: Diana Smith, Staff Writer

Being able to work remotely is a mixed blessing

Joy Rhyne Webb is an attorney with Merritt, Flebotte, Wilson, Webb & Caruso in Durham. She graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1995. Webb concentrates her practice in employment law, administrative law, personal injury and medical malpractice litigation and collection matters. Here, she tells North Carolina Lawyers Weekly about the pros and cons about working remotely.

Read More »

Vocation variation: A cop, a cabinetmaker and others find second careers in the law

Guns, drugs, high-speed chases, pit bulls and stakeouts. Sounds like all of the ingredients of an action movie, but it actually describes the early days of Charlotte attorney Mark Simpson's career. And he didn't practice criminal law - at least not in the traditional sense. Simpson is one of many "second-career" lawyers - those who started off working in one job only to switch to law mid-stroke.

Read More »

Discovery abuse is one of the biggest problems in civil litigation

H. Gerald Beaver is a senior partner with Beaver, Holt, Sternlicht and Courie in Fayetteville. A native of Albemarle, Beaver received his law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1973. He spent two years as a public defender for the 12th Judicial District before entering private practice in 1975.

Read More »

Quiet research and writing time is merely a dream

Elizabeth Spainhour is an associate with Brooks Pierce in Raleigh, where she represents media and communications companies in regulatory and business matters. The University of North Carolina School of Law graduate counsels broadcast clients about the FCC's Equal Employment Opportunities rules, children's programming and political advertising. Spainhour also represents broadcasters, newspapers and website publishers in libel and subpoena defense, privacy, public records access and courtroom access matters. She has a special interest in Internet and related communications.

Read More »

Cumberland to launch state’s first pre-trial DWI court

Individuals charged with the most severe drunken-driving offenses in Cumberland County may soon find that their cases are handled a little differently in court. The county's pilot sobriety court kicks off Sept. 28, the latest addition to a growing number of problem-solving courts in North Carolina. "Our focus is to target the most potentially dangerous, addicted offenders who are at-large in the community," said District Court Judge Kim Tucker (pictured), who will preside over Cumberland's sobriety court.

Read More »

Bad writers will end up on the naughty list

"$1000 Reward For The Arrest & Conviction AND Return of The 20 foot SANTA CLAUS." The sign blazed in angry red letters on both sides of a truck parked alongside Route 16 in New Hampshire's White Mountains. Childhood idol turned criminal? Say it ain't so, Santa.

Read More »

Civil rights lawyer battles ‘institutionalized inequity’

Mark Dorosin is the senior managing attorney for the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights in Chapel Hill. Here, he tells Lawyers Weekly about his work and offers his opinion about educational diversity in light of the controversial debate over the Wake County Board of Education's decision to switch from a socioeconomic busing system to neighborhood schools.

Read More »