12:55 Welcome and Introductions
1:00 Regulatory Change in the Practice of Law: National and Local Trends*
Jeffrey M. "Jeff" Kelly, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Raleigh
Brian P.D. Oten, North Carolina State Bar, Raleigh
Camille Stell, Lawyers Mutual Consulting & Services, Cary
In recent years, several state bars have formed task forces and commissioned studies to find creative ways to encourage innovation in the practice of law and increase the public's access to legal services. While many of these initiatives began before the pandemic, the impacts of COVID-19 have seemingly accelerated action, with states such as Arizona and Utah approving plans for significant modifications to the Rules of Professional Conduct and allowing experimentation with alternative business models through a regulatory sandbox. This panel includes legal professionals participating in the North Carolina State Bar's committee studying regulatory change and provides an update on these important issues.
2:00 Break
2:10 The Evolving Practice of Law‡
Alyson Carrel, Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, IL
Caitlin Moon, Vanderbilt Law School, Nashville, TN
Significant and accelerating advances in technology are contributing to an industry-wide shift from traditional practice to more interdisciplinary and business-focused models. To succeed in the modern business environment, legal teams must embrace lessons from other professions and a deeper appreciation for the power of data, technology, and process improvement. Rethinking this evolution in the practice of law is critical to not only understanding our clients' needs but to rethinking our delivery of legal services.
3:10 Adjourn
*Indicates portion providing Ethics/Professional Responsibility credit
‡Indicates portion providing Technology Training credit
Thank you for joining us for Day 1 of the Ethical Practice in a Virtual World CLE! We look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning.
Last year, the NCBA Future of Law and Professionalism Committees presented a joint CLE, Ethical Practice in a Technological World. How little did any of us know how much and how quickly the technological world would get here .
Tawanda Foster Artis is the General Counsel and Vice-President of Legal Affairs & Human Resources for the North Carolina Community College System in Raleigh.
With nearly 20 years in state government legal roles, Tawanda has been a senior staff attorney at the North Carolina General Assembly, drafting legislation and advising lawmakers. She served as Chief Editor for the guidebook, "Summaries of Substantive Ratified Legislation." She has also been appellate counsel at the NC Administrative Office of the Courts, an assistant attorney general, and an assistant district attorney.
Before law school, Tawanda worked in corporate human resources. Passionate about community service, she volunteers with child literacy programs, hunger relief charities, and has served on several boards, including "A Place at the Table" in Raleigh. Recognized for her contributions, she received the Statewide Citizen Lawyer Award in 2020 and the Wake County Bar Association's President's Award in 2022. Tawanda enjoys traveling, live music, volunteering, and family time.
Tawanda earned her B.A. in Interpersonal and Organizational Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
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Dauna L. Bartley is a practicing attorney at The Brocker Law Firm PA in Raleigh, NC. She represents clients before various licensing boards and administrative agencies, counsels clients on ethics and disciplinary matters, and provides general compliance counseling.
Prior to joining The Brocker Law Firm, Dauna practiced in civil litigation with the law firms of Moore & Van Allen PLLC in Morrisville and Ellis & Winters LLP in Raleigh. She then served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Sessoms & Rogers PA in Durham.
Dauna is certified by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission to conduct superior court mediations. She currently serves as the co-chair of the Ethics Committee for the North Carolina Bar Association's Administrative Law Section, and on the CLE Committee of the Wake County Bar Association.
Dauna graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Communication and Theatre Arts, and a M.A. in Rhetoric and Communication. She worked for nearly a decade as a human resources/recruitment professional, during which time she and her family relocated to the Triangle area. She then pursued a career in law and graduated, with high honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law. During law school, Dauna completed an externship with the Honorable Magistrate Judge Wallace W. Dixon in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, and served as Publication Editor for the North Carolina Journal of Law and Technology.
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Allison J. Becker is a partner with Gordon & Rees LLP in Raleigh. She focuses her practice on professional malpractice, commercial and business litigation, bankruptcy litigation, and appeals. Ms. Becker regularly represents individuals, health care providers, businesses, insurance companies and their insureds in a variety of state and federal courts, as well as before professional licensing and regulatory boards.
Ms. Becker is proficient in handling complex e-discovery projects, including retaining and working with vendors, designing document review protocols and quality control measures, and overseeing document production processes. Ms. Becker has over ten years of experience handling all aspects of litigation, from pleadings, to discovery and depositions, to motions practice, trial and appeals.
Ms. Becker is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association (Women in the Profession Committee), Wake County Bar Association, North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, Virginia State Bar and the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys. She received her B.A. degree in English from Duke University in 2004 and her J.D. degree with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 2008.
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Kathryn W. "Kathy" Bradley is a professor of the practice of law, the director of Legal Ethics, and the administrator for the Capstone Project at Duke Law School. She teaches in the areas of legal ethics and family law.
Professor Bradley received her B.A. degree, magna cum laude, with Honors in Latin, and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa upon graduating from Wake Forest University in 1979. She earned her J.D. degree in 1988 from the University of Maryland School of Law, where she ranked first in her class and was admitted to membership in the Order of the Coif. She then served as a law clerk to Judge Frederic N. Smalkin of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and Justice Byron R. White of the United States Supreme Court.
She joined the firm of Hogan & Hartson in 1991, was made partner in 1998, and became of counsel in 2000. Bradley worked in the firm’s Washington, Baltimore, and Denver offices as a member of the Litigation Department. Her areas of practice, at trial and appellate levels, included federal and state constitutional law, higher education law, health care fraud and abuse, and general commercial law.
Professor Bradley taught Legal Research and Writing at the University of Virginia from 2000 until 2005 when she joined the Duke Law faculty. She previously had been an adjunct instructor of Legal Writing, Constitutional Law, and Federal Jurisdiction at the University of Maryland School of Law. Between college and law school, she was a secondary school teacher in Virginia Beach, Va., and Winston-Salem, NC.
She holds membership in the American Bar Association and the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. She is admitted to practice in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Colorado, the District of Columbia, and various federal courts.
Deanna S. Brocker is an owner of The Brocker Law Firm in Raleigh, and she concentrates exclusively in professional disciplinary defense and ethics counseling. Prior to reentering private practice, Deanna served as Assistant Ethics Counsel for the N.C. State Bar for over 10 years. She fielded thousands of telephone ethics questions and provided advice and written ethics advisory opinions to attorneys throughout the state. In addition, as staff liaison to the Ethics Committee of the Bar, she drafted proposed formal ethics opinions for consideration by the Ethics Committee. She also served as staff counsel to the Professionalism Committee of the State Bar, tasked with the creation of the North Carolina Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism. In private practice, Deanna provides ethics advice and compliance counseling; drafts employment, fee, and other agreements; reviews attorney advertisements and websites; and assists attorneys in preparing responses to State Bar Grievances.
Deanna has also published articles for the Ethics Page of the State Bar's Journal and Attorney at Law magazine, among other publications, and has lectured at continuing legal education seminars sponsored by Lawyer's Mutual Liability Insurance Company, the American Bar Association, and the North Carolina Bar Association, among others. She is a member of the Wake County Bar Association, the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, and the Small Firm and Technology Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. She formerly served as Chair of the Law Practice Management and Technology Section of the Bar Association.
Deanna earned her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.
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Alyson Carrel is a clinical associate professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, IL. She is also the Co-Director of the law school's nationally ranked Center on Negotiation and Mediation. Carrel is an active leader, presenter, and trainer in dispute resolution. She has provided negotiation and dispute resolution trainings for a wide variety of clients including large law firms like Baker McKenzie, court systems/programs such as the Cook County Juvenile Court Child Protection Mediation Program, government organizations such as HUD, corporations such as Coca-Cola, and nonprofit organizations including the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Until 2019, she led the law school's legal technology & innovation initiatives as the Assistant Dean of Law & Technology. In these roles, she received a grant to purchase wearable cameras for negotiation simulation courses, a fellowship to integrate the A2J Author platform in mediation advocacy courses, launched TEaCH LAW, a faculty instructional technology initiative, and was awarded the student-voted Outstanding Professor of a Small Class. Carrel is currently researching the impact of emerging technology in dispute resolution and developing a new client-driven competency model for the 21st-century legal professional called the Delta Model.
Carrel received her J.D. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she published a case note on drafting an effective ADR contract clause and was the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Dispute Resolution. She received her B.A. degree in Women’s Studies from the University of Florida where she wrote a thesis focused on domestic relations mediation.
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Paul T. Flick is an attorney with Miller Monroe & Plyler PLLC in Raleigh. His principal area of practice is civil practice in business and commercial litigation, concentrated in the area of protecting the rights of business clients, creditor rights and bankruptcy, shareholder, and member disputes. Paul is certified by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission as a Mediator for Civil Superior Court Mediated Settlement Conferences, 2009-present.
Paul is a member of the North Carolina and Wake County Bar Associations. He received his B.A. degree, cu laude, from Wake Forest University in 1983 and his J.D. degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1986.
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Leanor Bailey Hodge is a Deputy Counsel with the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh. She counsels the NCSB's Grievance Committee and prosecuting lawyers for ethics violations before the Disciplinary Hearing Commission.
Prior to joining the NCSB in 2008, Leanor was a litigation partner at the law firm of Manning Fulton & Skinner PA in Raleigh, and a prosecutor in Philadelphia and Chicago. Leanor frequently lectures for the Mecklenburg County Bar on ethical and professional topics.
Leanor received her B.B.A. from Howard University and her J.D. from Temple University.
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Jeffrey M. "Jeff" Kelly is a Partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Raleigh. He focuses his practice in areas of emerging technology, particularly in areas involving data analytics, digital assets, and FinTech. He works closely with entrepreneurs and companies to effectively navigate changing regulations, government investigations, and complex corporate and securities law challenges protecting trade secrets, including the North Carolina Business Court, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and federal courts.
Jeff serves in several leadership positions at the intersection of law, technology, and increasing access to justice. He currently serves on the Governing Council of the American Bar Association's Center for Innovation and is the Past Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association's Future of Law Committee, both of which are charged with tracking, analyzing, and contextualizing the impact of leading edge technology on the practice of law and delivery of legal services. He is also a Fellow of Duke University School of Law's Center on Law and Technology. He is the Chair of the Advisory Board for Legal Aid of North Carolina's Innovation Lab and serves on Legal Aid's Board of Directors.
Jeff earned his B.A. in Philosophy from North Carolina State University and his J.D. from Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law.
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Tara L. Kozlowski is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission. She has been with the Commission since July of 2018. Prior to working with the DRC Tara was a family law litigator and mediator, practicing with a small firm in Wake County. Tara obtained a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Indiana University, and her J.D. degree from The University of Toledo College of Law in 2006. She lives in Apex with her husband, two daughters, and two yellow labs. Please feel free to contact her at the DRC office anytime with questions or to introduce yourself.
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John C. Millberg is a partner with Millberg Gordon & Stewart PLLC in Raleigh. John engages in an active trial practice. He has tried to a verdict many wrongful death actions. He has tried a multitude of cases involving severe brain damage, amputations, and other serious injuries. He has also tried several cases arising out of commercial disputes. John has lectured on civil trial subjects in North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Florida, California, Utah, West Virginia, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia.
John is a member of the Transportation Research Board, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), Defense Research Institute, North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, Federal, North Carolina and Wake County Bar Associations.
John received his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Bowling Green State University and his J.D. degree from Wake Forest University School of Law.
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Caitlin "Cat" Moon teaches in the Program in Law and Innovation (PoLI) at Vanderbilt Law School in Nashville, TN, where she also serves as the Director of Innovation Design and directs the PoLI Institute, Vanderbilt's innovation-focused executive education platform. In addition to co-organizing Music City (Nashville) Legal Hackers, Cat co-founded the Summit on Law and Innovation (SoLI), which brings together experts across legal, technology, and other disciplines in collaborative legal innovation projects.
She currently teaches Legal Problem Solving, a course in human-centered design for law, as well as Law as a Business, Blockchain and Smart Contracts, Legal Operations, and Leading in Law. Cat also serves on the leadership team of the Medical Innovators Program and is on the faculty of Radiological Sciences at Vanderbilt School of Medicine, where she brings cross-disciplinary experience to innovation across medicine and the law. She regularly speaks, facilitates workshops, and coaches individuals globally on the application of human-centered design methods and process to lead innovation in both the legal profession and legal education.
Before joining Vanderbilt Law (her alma mater), she practiced law for 20 years and still maintains an active law license.
Brian P. Oten is the Director for Ethics and Special Programs at the North Carolina State Bar.
Brian joined the State Bar's Office of Counsel in 2007 as deputy counsel and moved to his current role in 2018 where he serves as chief ethics counsel and director for the boards of legal specialization and paralegal certification.
Brian earned his B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill and his J.D. from the UNC School of Law.
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William W. "Bill" Pollock is a partner with Ragsdale Liggett PLLC in Raleigh. As a trial lawyer, Bill's practice of over thirty years is concentrated in construction law, product liability, environmental, trucking, and other complex business litigation. His clients include general contractors, subcontractors, product manufacturers, trucking companies, business owners, and insurance and surety companies. Having tried more than 50 cases before a jury, Bill has achieved significant results for his clients including a precedent setting case from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. His reputation of always being a fair and respectful advocate and a keen litigation strategist is evidenced by consistently earning top lawyer ratings by his clients and peers.
Bill received his B.A. degree from Wake Forest University in 1984 and his J.D. degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1987.
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Ann Cosper Pridemore is an Assistant Attorney General at the North Carolina Department of Justice in Raleigh. Ann is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association. She received her B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006 and her J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law in 2009.
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Amy E. Richardson is a Managing Partner at HWG LLP in Raleigh, where she serves as Chair of the Legal Ethics and Malpractice group. Her practice focuses on legal ethics and professional responsibility matters, white collar defense and complex commercial litigation.
In her Legal Ethics and Malpractice role, Amy counsels and represents lawyers and law firms in disciplinary investigations and prosecutions and malpractice matters. Her disciplinary experience includes matters before multiple state bars, the USPTO's Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). She has represented individual lawyers and law firm in high stakes arbitrations related to partner departures. She also counsels and advises lawyers and law firms in partner admissions and departures, and law firm dissolutions. Amy teaches legal ethics and professional responsibility at Duke University School of Law and Georgetown University Law Center.
In her Complex Civil Litigation practice, Amy handles complex civil cases in federal court, state court, and in arbitration proceedings throughout the United States. She has been involved in several high profile matters. She also works closely with the firm's telecom practice in cases involving the communications-technology industry, including Telephone Consumer Protection Act, intercarrier compensation and access fee disputes.
In her Regulatory Compliance and White Collar Criminal Defense practice, Amy has successfully represented companies before federal and state regulatory agencies and Offices of Inspector General. Her extensive white-collar criminal defense experience includes preparing clients for grand jury appearances and trial work. She also assists clients in identifying, complying with and discovering noncompliance with complex and evolving federal regulatory requirements.
Amy has been recognized by multiple publications for excellence, receiving top rankings for North Carolina litigators in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and Business North Carolina's "Legal Elite." She is a frequent speaker and leader on ethics and litigation issues. Amy has served as an advisory member of the North Carolina State Bar Ethics committee and as the current Vice Chair of the North Carolina State Bar Client Security Fund. She is the Immediate Past Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association's Litigation Council. Amy is also a member of Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC), Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL) and DRI.
Amy earned her her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of North Carolina and her J.D., cum laude, from Duke University School of Law.
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Eb Roberts, LCMHC/LPC, BC-TMH, SPHR is a licensed therapist and attorney, with law being her second career. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Georgia State University College of Law, a Master's in Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a Bachelor's in Psychology from The College of Charleston.
Eb spent 20 years in the for-profit sector, working primarily in behavioral health hospital administration, counseling, and engaged in the practice of law before joining the Autism Society of North Carolina in 2018. She serves as General Counsel and Sr. Director of Human Resources, maintaining a part-time therapy practice based in Cary and via telehealth. Many of her clients are professionals in medicine, law, and business, with treatment areas focused on addiction, depression, and anxiety.
She resides in Cary with her husband and their two teen sons.
David S. Robinson is of Counsel with Nexsen Pruet LLC in Raleigh. The global commercial marketplace is rapidly becoming both more complex and interwoven. Few attorneys understand the opportunities and dynamics of global trade better than David Robinson. He has assisted clients in cross-border transactions around the world. He has been to over 50 countries. He has run two US subsidiaries of foreign companies. David knows when "yes" means yes and when it means no, and he knows the importance of cultural understanding in international commerce. He helps global businesses integrate corporate compliance and operational programs into subsidiary operations, facilitate the transfer of personnel among operations, comply with export control and boycott regulations, and negotiate commercial and joint venture relationships. Whether your business is a seasoned competitor on the global stage or just 'testing the waters' of foreign opportunities, David can help level your 'playing field.'
David's areas of experience are doing business with China, international business transactions, mergers & acquisitions, commercial law, international law and services and employment and labor law.
David is a Fellow of the Institute of Political Leadership, honorary consul for Japan in North Carolina, North Carolina Bar Association's Board of Governors and the Wake County Economic Development Foreign Direct Investment Committee.
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Ryan M. Shuirman is a partner with Yates McLamb & Weyher LLP in Raleigh. He represents clients in the healthcare industry, as well as business professionals, in claims of liability and malpractice and before licensing boards.
Ryan is a membership of the North Carolina Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, Wake County Bar Association/Tenth Judicial District Bar, American Bar Association and the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management, North Carolina Chapter.
Ryan Shuirman grew up in Dover, Delaware. He obtained his B.A. degree from the University of Virginia in 1996 and his J.D. degree from Wake Forest University in 1999.
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Ketan P. Soni is a partner with Soni Brendle PLLC in Charlotte. Since 2000, Ketan has represented clients in divorce, equitable distribution, alimony, child custody, child support, domestic violence, and appeals in Charlotte, Raleigh, and the surrounding areas. Ketan practices divorce law to achieve the best possible result with a "big picture" view of each case. Ketan is also a North Carolina DRC Certified Family Financial and Superior Court Mediator.
In 2011, Ketan saw the damage the court process inflicted on spouses and parents, and so he opened a mediation practice designed to help spouses create their own resolution without having to go to court. Ketan now teaches a 40-hour Mediation Training Course approved by the Dispute Resolution Commission of North Carolina.
Ketan received his B.A. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his J.D. degree from Wake Forest University School of Law.
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Camille Stell serves as President and CEO of Lawyers Mutual Consulting & Services in Cary. She is a frequent author and speaker on the topics of ethics and professionalism, succession planning, marketing and business development and law firm trends of the future.
She works with lawyers and law firms in business development and marketing coaching, strategic planning and succession planning. She has facilitated law firm retreats and coaching sessions for law firms of all sizes whether small North Carolina firms, regional firms, as well as global law firms. She has facilitated ABA Women Rainmaker workshops for hundreds of women attorneys in North and South Carolina. She has facilitated "Future of the Profession" workshops for a consortium of law firm recruiting professionals and law school career service office professionals. She is an organizer of the newly created Legal Innovators Meetup in the Triangle.
Camille has thirty years of experience in the legal industry including law firm experience as a paralegal and as a recruiting and marketing professional. In her capacity as a marketing professional, Camille was responsible for building the profile of the Triangle offices of K & L Gates (formerly Kennedy Covington), coaching attorneys, developing marketing strategy and client targeting plans for the office as well as individual practice groups.
She is a graduate of Meredith College and the Meredith College Paralegal Program and recently completed a term on the Meredith College Alumnae Board.
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Jeffrey "Jeff" Ward is Associate Dean of Technology and Innovation and serves as the Director of Duke's Center on Law & Technology (DCLT), which coordinates Duke's leadership at the intersection of law and technology with programs such as the Duke Law Tech Lab, a pre-accelerator for legal technology companies, and the Access Tech Tools initiative, a program to help students and Duke's community partners to employ human-centered design thinking and available technologies to create tools to enhance access to legal services.
Jeff focuses his scholarship and professional activities on the law and policy of emerging technologies (blockchain, artificial intelligence, robotics, IoT, etc.), the future of lawyering, and the socio-economic effects of rapid technological change, with a focus on ensuring equitable access to the tools of economic growth and the resources of the law.
He currently teaches Law & Policy Lab: Blockchain and Frontier Robotics & AI: Law & Ethics, as well as Intellectual Property, Business Law, and Entrepreneurship for Duke's Pratt School of Engineering's Masters of Engineering Management Program.
Jeff earned both his J.D. and his LL.M. degrees in International & Comparative Law from Duke Law School, his M.A. degree in Literature from Northern Illinois University, and his B.A. degree in the Program of Liberal Studies (Great Books) and a concentration in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics from the University of Notre Dame.
He is licensed to practice in North Carolina and maintains his own law practice, counseling start-ups and offering corporate and transactional legal services to for-profit and non-profit business entities.
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Richard A. Waugaman III is a member of Lesnik Family Law PC in Raleigh. Richard works primarily with domestic contracts, including breach of contract, drafting separation and settlement agreements, financial issues including property distribution, alimony, child support and absolute divorce. He also has considerable experience working with cases involving domestic violence.
Richard graduated from Campbell University School of Law and is a licensed attorney in North Carolina. Richard also is a summa cum laude graduate of Campbell University with a degree in criminal justice.
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