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In Memoriam, HERBERT O. (BERT) DAVIS

October 2, 2020/in Newsletter, October 2020

HERBERT O. (BERT) DAVIS

June 11, 1935 – February 21, 2020

Herbert O. (Bert) Davis died Friday, February 21, 2020.  Bert was the son of Claudie Lea Pointer Davis, and was preceded in death by his mother, brother Guy Pointer Davis and grandmother Claude Thomas Pointer.  He is survived by his son Bert Davis, Jr.; his daughter Ann Davis Legette, her husband Wade and grandsons Wade and Jim; his son Paul Davis, his wife Meghan and grandsons McAuley and Porter; and his wonderful companion of many years, Barbara Wales.

Bert was a 1957 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Sigma.  He was also a graduate of the Duke University School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of The Duke Law Journal in 1959-1960.  Bert was a partner in Smith Moore Smith Schell & Hunter (now Fox Rothschild LLP), which he joined as an associate in 1960.  He was a member of the American, North Carolina and Greensboro Bar Associations.

Bert was listed in The Best Lawyers in America in corporate and banking law from 1990 until his death.  He was a member of the Board of Directors and Secretary of the Greensboro City Club, as well as a member of the Greensboro Country Club and the Greensboro Investment Club.

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Tuggle Duggins Welcomes Theodora Vaporis

October 2, 2020/in Newsletter, October 2020
Theodora Vaporis

Theodora Vaporis

Tuggle Duggins P.A. is pleased to announce the arrival of Theodora Vaporis to its roster of practicing attorneys as Of Counsel. Theodora joins the firm after having previously counseled clients and families as a partner with another Greensboro law firm.

Theodora focuses on assisting clients with estate planning needs, including estate administration after the loss of a loved one and investigating disputes that can arise from fraudulent conveyance, misuse of a Power of Attorney or a Last Will and Testament procured by fraud or duress. She is an advocate for the elderly and other persons vulnerable to undue influence and, as such, helps them establish Guardianships and assists the guardians appointed by the Court in maintaining proper accountings of those Guardianship Estates. Her dual licensure allows her the opportunity to represent clients in both North Carolina and in California.

“We are thrilled to have Theodora join our team. Her experience combined with her passion for helping and protecting her clients, particularly those who are elderly and otherwise vulnerable, are what make her a great addition to our firm. We could not be more pleased to offer Theodora’s services to our clients,” said Nathan Duggins, Managing Partner of Tuggle Duggins.

Theodora earned her Juris Doctorate from The Catholic University of America, and her B.A. in Business Administration and Management from Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. She is active in many professional and civic organizations and, together with another attorney and many health care professionals, Theodora helped create the Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will used by many hospitals in North Carolina.

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Save the Date for our GBA Annual CLE

October 2, 2020/in Newsletter, October 2020
Save the Date for our GBA Annual CLE

Save the Date for our GBA Annual CLE

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Allie Petrova Selected Nolan Fellow by ABA Section of Taxation

October 2, 2020/in Newsletter, October 2020
Allie Petrova

Allie Petrova

The American Bar Association’s Section of Taxation (ABA Tax Section) has selected Allie Petrova as a John S. Nolan Fellow (Nolan Fellow) for 2020-2021.  Allie Petrova has served on task forces and has contributed to comments for the Department of Treasury, speaks regularly on national CLE courses presented by the ABA Tax Section, and currently chairs its Closely Held Business Committee.

The ABA Tax Section selects up to six (6) Nolan Fellows each year.  Officers, Council Directors, Committee Chairs, and Vice Chairs of the ABA Tax Section are eligible to submit nominations.  The nominees have made some significant contribution to an ABA Tax Section committee or task force, or to the ABA Tax Section in general.  Nolan Fellows serve for a term of one fiscal year in a variety of capacities involving substantive contributions and participation in the ABA Tax Section.

Allie Petrova is the founder of Petrova Law PLLC, a Greensboro-based business law firm focused exclusively on tax and business law.  Ms. Petrova assists individual and business clients with tax planning solutions, IRS and Tax Court representation, M&A transactions, and business law matters from launch to exit and succession.

Ms. Petrova earned her J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation degrees from the Georgetown University Law Center and her B.S. degree in Business Administration and Economics, magna cum laude, from Greensboro College.

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Young Lawyers Section: Connections

October 2, 2020/in Newsletter, October 2020
Hillary Kies

Hillary Kies is President of the Greensboro Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section and is an attorney with Turning Point Litigation.

Swearing-In Ceremony

Each year the Young Lawyers Section sponsors a Fall Swearing-In Ceremony for the admission of newly licensed attorneys to the state and federal courts.  This year, due to COVID19, the Young Lawyers Section is holding its Fall Swearing-In Ceremony on Friday, October 16, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. via Zoom.

If you are a newly licensed attorney, or you know a newly licensed attorney, please email Nicole Scallon at nscallon@hensonlawyers.com to receive the application materials.  We welcome the support and attendance of members of the GBA at the Fall Swearing-In Ceremony to support our newly licensed attorneys.  Friends and family are also invited to celebrate the occasion.

Connect With Us

Do you want more information about upcoming Young Lawyers Section events or how you can get involved?  Visit our website at www.greensboroyls.org, e-mail Hillary Kies (hkies@turningpointlit.com) to make sure you are on the listserv and follow us on Facebook (Greensboro Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section).

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Stell: Creating a Modern Law Practice

October 2, 2020/in Newsletter, October 2020

Camille Stell is President and CEO of Lawyers Mutual Consulting & Services. Continue this conversation by contacting Camille at camille@lawyersmutualnc.com or 800.662.8843.

Evolve and thrive. Never before have those two words been more important.

Some firms will adapt to these unprecedented times. They will emerge ready to meet the new opportunities of a re-imagined world. Other firms will wait for things to return to normal.

Let’s make sure you are in the first group.

The Defining Characteristic of a Modern Law Firm

  • Are you in the business of billing hours?
  • Are you in the business of filling out forms and signing documents?
  • Are you in the business of attending meetings?
  • Are you in the business of measuring out your life in six-minute increments?

The answer is no. In the Foreword to Jack Newton’s 2020 book, The Client Centered Law Firm, Jordan Furlong says, “You are in the business of helping people solve problems, of putting lives back on track, of helping businesses grow and prosper. But it’s possible that your own law business has started to chase and measure and reward the wrong things – that it has forgotten its intended purpose, what and who it’s actually for. The purpose of your law business is your clients. The future of law is client-centered.”

Clio 2018 Legal Trends Report

According to the 2018 Clio Legal Trends Report, forty percent of clients feel frustration as part of the experience when hiring a lawyer, but only 8% of law firms perceive this to be the case.

According to the same report, lawyers spend 2.4 hours per day on billable work. On any given day, lawyers spend 2 hours looking for legal work.

Clients aren’t getting the experience they want from lawyers, yet lawyers are working hard to find clients. Modernizing your law practice is one way to bridge this gap.

Permanent Change

The profession has experienced permanent changes because of the pandemic. Here are a few:

  • Working remotely, either partially or fully
  • Moving data and operations to cloud-based platforms
  • Emphasis on innovation, especially with how clients access legal services
  • Use of video and audio conferencing
  • Use of collaborative technology
  • Virtual trials, discovery, mediation, and court proceedings
  • Livestreaming of court proceedings
  • Growth in alternative legal service providers

Effortless Experience

Jack Newton is the co-founder and CEO of Clio. He has spent the past ten years working with lawyers as they build their law firms. The Clio Legal Trends Report and now the Clio COVID-19 Impact Reports are Clio’s research efforts to understand the challenges faced by small law and to offer information and solutions. Jack’s newly released book, The Client Centered Law Firm, furthers the research Clio has done. In it, Jack discusses the impact small changes can have on your firm and your client relationships.

“Asking your client to fax you something (or receive a fax), fill out forms by hand, or come to your office multiple times during their working hours to sign documents requires a lot of effort of their part.”

“Simple changes like sharing documents electronically, and allowing e-signatures, make for a much smoother experience. The best part is, creating an effortless experience for your clients often means creating an effortless experience for your firm too. The improved processes and efficiencies mean less rote work.”

“It doesn’t have to happen all at once. It’s better to implement small, continuous, iterative changes than it is to implement nothing at all. Small changes have a big impact, and over time, there’s a cumulative positive effect.”

“The more you can make small changes, learn, and iterate on them, the closer you’ll get to providing the type of experience your clients want and need.”

At the time Jack wrote this, the pandemic was unknown to us. As a result of the pandemic, many firms have been forced to make some of these changes that provide a better experience for clients. The question will be whether firms look to make these changes permanent or whether they anxiously await the day when they can return to a pre-pandemic world.

The goal should be to create a modern law practice that will evolve and thrive during and after the pandemic. Building a modern practice doesn’t mean that the lawyers are all young or that the client work is of a certain level of sophistication. Rather it is the mindset of the firm.

Characteristics of a Modern Practice

  • Strong technology foundation
  • Collaborative
  • Transparent
  • Marketing savvy with rainmaker instincts
  • Entrepreneurial
  • Leadership driven
  • Wellness focus
  • Recruiting and retention with a focus on
    diversity and inclusion initiatives

Conclusion

In Jim Collins seminal book, Good to Great, he shows how an organization makes small decisions geared toward success, day in and day out. Ultimately, those efforts culminate in an unstoppable force that takes a good business to greatness.

As Jim interviewed companies that made the leap from good to great, the leaders couldn’t attribute their success to any one change or moment in time. Rather, it was a buildup of small changes that eventually paid off.

The changes you make today may not result in new clients or improved profits tomorrow. But over time, your efforts to build a modern law firm will result in a client centered firm supported by enthused professionals that will last multi-generations.

Camille Stell is the President of Lawyers Mutual Consulting & Services. Continue this conversation by contacting Camille at camille@lawyersmutualconsulting.com or 919.677.8900.

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Wellness Corner

October 2, 2020/in Newsletter, October 2020

 

BarCARES is a confidential, short-term intervention program provided cost-free to members of the 24th Judicial District Bar and other participating judicial district bars, voluntary bar associations and law schools. If you would like additional information about the program and/or its availability in your area, please contact the BarCARES coordinator at 919.929.1227 or 1.800.640.0735 or click on the icon below.

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New Members Approved on September 9, 2020

October 2, 2020/in Newsletter, October 2020

Amanda Schemkes
Elon University School of Law
Endorser: Susan Liemer

Caroleen McFadden Dineen
Elon University School of Law
Endorser: Alan D. Woodlief, Jr.

Lauren N. Zickert
The Elderlaw Firm
Endorser: Lauren D. Hossfeld

Ryan O’Keith Hargrave
Gate City Legal Services
Endorser: Sharon E. Dunmore

Daniel Karlsson
Gate City Legal Services
Endorser: Sharon E. Dunmore

William Donald Bomar
Law Offices of Adams & Winfree
Endorser: Charles H. Winfree

Samuele Joseph Viscuso
Garrett Walker Aycoth & Olson
Endorser: Hilary Hux

Andrea L. Davis
The Law Office of Andrea L. Davis, PLLC
Endorser: Lora M. Howard

Brandon Shane Cook
Andraos Law, PLLC
Endorser: Kristy S. Andraos

Gia M. Gaster
Gaster Law, PLLC
Endorser: Sharon E. Dunmore

Lynn Ellen Coleman
Lynn E. Coleman Attorney-Mediator
Endorser: Frederick K. Sharpless

Matthew Harbin
Law Offices of James Scott Farrin
Endorser: Vanessa Beltran Ortiz

Nathaniel Ryan Smith
Endorser: John Covington Overfield

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October Calendar Notes

October 2, 2020/in Newsletter, October 2020

October 14 – Board Meeting,4:00 PM, Zoom

October 15 – Member Meeting, 5:30 PM, Zoom

October 16 – Swearing-In Ceremony, 3:00 PM, Zoom

October 20 – Submission Deadline for the November Newsletter

October 21 – YLS Board Meeting, 12:00 PM, Zoom

Click to keep up with GBA Events Online

Click Here for Legal Community Events

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Message from the President, October 2020

October 2, 2020/in Newsletter, October 2020
Lisa W. Arthur

Lisa W. Arthur, President of the Greensboro Bar Association

GBA Members,

What a great start to our 2020-2021 GBA year! We are truly grateful for the hardworking GBA board members, committee chairs, and committee members who have hit the ground running to make this year a success.

We held our first member meeting on September 17, 2020 via Zoom and our featured speaker was Kim Gatling, who gave us a lot to think about regarding racism and the need for diversity in our practices and in our world. Next up for our October meeting is Zack Matheny, who will talk to us about the downtown revitalization efforts and the GBA’s donation to the Feeding the Frontlines program. We hope you will join us on October 15th at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom.

I had to make the difficult decision that the remaining meetings for 2020 will be held via Zoom. While I certainly would love for all of us to be together in person, the safety of our membership is most important.

Please stay tuned as our bar year continues to get underway. We hope to see you all virtually again soon!

Lisa Arthur

GBA President, 2020-2021

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Swearing-In 2020 Scheduled for October 16, 2020

October 1, 2020/in Frontpage Article
This year the Young Lawyers Section of the Greensboro Bar Association has organized a Virtual Swearing-In Ceremony for newly admitted lawyers to be sworn into state and federal court.

The ceremony will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 16, 2020
via Zoom.

Applications are accepted until Monday, October 12, 2020.  If you are a newly licensed attorney or you know a newly licensed attorney please check out the application below.

Swearing-In Application Packet

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