North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Dan Ellison (pictured) graduated from UNC Law School in 1984 with the same anxiety about passing the bar exam that all lawyers-to-be face at the beginning of their careers. But it wasn't just a commonplace case of the nerves for him. On the contrary, he faced a worry that an unknown number of his classmates might have faced at the same time - whether being gay would affect his ability to become an attorney in North Carolina.

Tagged with: Attorneys Diversity Domestic Relations Gay LGBT N.C. Board of Law Examiners nondiscrimination

Ten years ago, North Carolina's criminal justice system was in the Dark Ages. Today, it's seen the light. That's according to Raleigh defense attorney Joe Cheshire V, who still applauds the General Assembly for establishing an office to oversee the legal representation of the state's poorest defendants in 2000. The Office of Indigent Defense Services was created to fix "a criminal justice system that had absolutely no structure," said Cheshire, who served on the study group that recommended the agency's creation and is now IDS Commission chair.

Tagged with: Criminal Defense Criminal Practice IDS

Raleigh lawyer D. Caldwell Barefoot Jr. officially opened Barefoot Family Law on Aug. 1. Before striking out on his own, Barefoot spent 15 years as an attorney with Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton.

Tagged with: Family Law Q&A Raleigh

NCBA distance learning coordinator Carroll Herndon poses with some of the new equipment in the new studio at the Bar Center. Photo by Russell Rawlings NCBA distance learning coordinator Carroll Herndon poses with some of the new equipment in the new studio at the Bar Center. Photo by Russell Rawlings Don't be surprised if you walk by a closed door with an "on air" sign lit up the next time you visit the Bar Center in Cary. The North Carolina Bar Association is putting the finishing touches on an in-house recording studio for its CLE programming. The studio will allow the NCBA to increase its online offerings, according to CLE director Ray Ruppert. The NCBA currently offers about 300 video replays per year, but Ruppert said the organization must up that number.

Tagged with: CLE

David E. Inabinett is a managing member of Brinkley Walser in Lexington. A 1996 graduate of the Wake Forest University School of Law [...]

The North Carolina Bar Association is getting a little more high-tech. The organization is just completing the first phase of building an in-house recording studio for its CLE programming, and I just returned from a trip to Cary to check ...

Tagged with: CLE North Carolina Bar Association Technology

Michael A. Colombo is an attorney with Colombo, Kitchin, Dunn, Ball & Porter in Greenville. [...]

By DIANA SMITH, Staff Writer [email protected] When it comes to marketing, perception is 99 percent of the sale. That’s the philosophy that Indievision CEO Bert Hesse adopted when his Charlotte-based company was hired to design a website dedicated solely to ...

Tagged with: legal marketing

Greg Grissett practices intellectual property law in Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice's Greensboro office. He counsels emerging and well-established businesses in acquiring and protecting intellectual property. [...]

New president to focus on mentoring in a profession in flux

Tagged with: NCBA