Planning for Success: Succession Planning and Business Continuity for All Stages of Your Legal Career

8:55 Welcome and Introductions

9:00 Succession Planning and Business Continuity^*

James A. "Jim" Calloway, Oklahoma Bar Association, Oklahoma City, OK
Thomas C. "Tom" Grella, McGuire Wood & Bissette, Asheville
Catherine Sanders Reach, NC Bar Association, Cary
Roberta L. Tepper, State Bar of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ

This panel of experts guides you through practical and actionable steps you can take to ensure business continuity. Topics include planning for success, records retention, backup, and firm policies and structure.

This session includes two 10-minute breaks.

12:20 Lunch Break

12:45 Afternoon Announcements and Introductions

12:50 Planning for Retirement

Suzanne Brown, Suzanne Brown Resources PLLC, Chapel Hill
Thomas E. "Tom" Lenfestey III, The Law Practice Exchange LLC, Cary
Mark A. Scruggs, Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of North Carolina, Cary
Laura L. Yaeger, Law Office of Laura L. Yaeger, Charlotte
Patrick H. Yanke, Yanke Financial LLC, Raleigh

It's never too early to start thinking about your retirement plan. This panel conversation focuses on creating a timeline for retirement, malpractice tail insurance, financial preparedness and practice valuation/selling your practice.

2:50 Break

3:00 Retiring^†

Nan E. Hannah, Hannah Sheridan & Cochran LLP, Raleigh
Alisa D. Huffman, Family & Elder Law, Cary
George W. Lennon (retired), Lennon Camak & Bertics PLLC, Raleigh
Nichole P. McLaughlin, North Carolina State Bar, Raleigh

In this session, we explore how to wind down your practice and what opportunities await in retirement. Hear information from the State Bar, discuss health and well-being, and learn how you can stay involved with fellow attorney retirees as you transition into the retirement world.

4:30 Adjourn

*Indicates portion providing Ethics/Professional Responsibility credit
†Indicates portion providing Substance Abuse/Mental Health credit

Thank you

Thank you for joining us for Planning for Success: Succession Planning and Business Continuity for All Stages of Your Legal Career.

Description

Whether you are just starting your practice, at your peak performance or winding down, planning for business continuity and succession is not only smart, but is also your ethical responsibility.

In this program, we focus on practical and actionable steps you can take to ensure business continuity, including planning and policy.

Also, find out how to plan for winding down your practice and explore what opportunities await in retirement.

Contributors

Suzanne Brown

Suzanne Brown, Suzanne Brown Resources PLLC, Chapel Hill

Suzanne is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist with 19 years of combined counseling, coaching, and therapy experience. She feels fortunate to inherently see strengths in others, see seeds of hope and possibilities, and connect with people where they are at a given moment in time. Her initial goal in working with individuals, families, and groups is to understand who and where you are now and who and where you want to be. From there, we can move forward in the direction of your goals.

Suzanne grew up in Greenville, NC and graduated from East Carolina University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and minor in Business. Her earlier work experiences were in the areas of behavioral weight management and human resources. She then enjoyed a rewarding 12-year career in financial coaching and professional development.

Over the years, through a combination of professional and personal experiences, Suzanne developed a strong interest in working with individuals and families impacted by substance misuse, trauma, and ongoing family conflict. This interest led her to graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and she graduated from their Masters of Social Work program with a Substance Use & Addictions Specialist Certification. While completing her MSW, she also received extensive training in the family systems model created by the late Virginia Satir. Satir's core philosophy is that positive change is always possible, and this idea serves as the foundation for all of her work.

Click here for more information about Suzanne.
James A. "Jim" Calloway

James A. "Jim" Calloway is the Director of the Oklahoma Bar Association's Management Assistance Program. He served as co-chair of ABA TECHSHOW 2005 and the first two GPSSF National Solo and Small Firm Conferences in 2006 and 2007. He frequently writes and speaks on legal technology issues, Internet research, law office management and organization and legal ethics. He's make several dozen presentations per year to county bar meetings and other CLE events within Oklahoma.

Jim manages several projects for the OBA, including the OBA-NET, our member's official online community, and the OBA Solo and Small Firm Conference.

Jim has also been fortunate enough to be asked to speak at several national conferences, including the American Bar Association Annual Meetings from 1999 through 2007, ABA TECHSHOW 2000 through 2007, LegalTech Toronto and Dallas 2000, Pacific Legal Tech 2006, ACLEA annual meeting 2006 and LegalTech New York 2006. His articles have been published in Lawyers Weekly USA, Law Practice Management magazine, Law Practice Today, Law Technology Today, Legal Management magazine, Law Technology News, LLRX.com and GPSolo, as well as many state and local bar association publications. He was recently honored with an induction as a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management.

Click here to follow his X feed.
Thomas C. "Tom" Grella

Thomas C. "Tom" Grella, McGuire Wood & Bissette, Asheville

Tom assists clients with business and commercial real estate needs. He has an extensive background in real estate and commercial transactions and represents clients in many different fields and industries. He helps clients with the formation of multi-owner developments and communities — including condominiums, traditional planned community subdivisions and HUD apartments; transactional representation in the purchase and sale of businesses; the formation of corporations, LLCs and partnerships; commercial leasing; corporate representation of medical practices; and preparation and review of business contracts.

Tom is determined to provide his clients with responsive, concise and practical legal advice. He chaired the firm's Management Committee for 12 years and has authored books on strategic planning and leadership. He has a passion for helping others in the leadership of their own organizations.

Click here for more information about Tom.
Nan E. Hannah

Nan E. Hannah is proud to be a member of Hannah Sheridan & Cochran LLP, a firm which she helped found in 2013.

Following in the footsteps of her father, who was a founder of the construction law section, Nan was destined for a career in the field. A native of Greensboro, Nan served a two-year stint as a research assistant at the North Carolina Supreme Court, then she spent a short time practicing insurance defense, which proved an effective training ground for civil litigation. For the past 20+ years, Nan helps clients in the construction industry with lien, bond and collection matters, as well as creditors rights in bankruptcy, and dispute resolution. Nan is a certified mediator in the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission's Superior Court Mediation Program.

Armed with a B.A. in Physical Education from Furman University and a M.S. in Education from Baylor, and before attending law school, Nan spent seven years teaching high school social studies while coaching basketball, and track and field, at Taylor High School in Katy, TX, then at James B. Hunt High School in Wilson. In 1989, Nan was named girls' basketball co-coach of the year for the Big East 3A Conference.

Nan currently volunteers with the North Carolina Bar Association, the Wake County Bar Association and the Taylor Family YMCA and is an elder at White Memorial Presbyterian Church. Among the volunteer opportunities afforded by the NCBA was to chair the "Retiring with Dignity Task Force", which is now known as the Transitioning Lawyers Commission. Today's presentation is part of that group's work.

Click here for more information about Nan.
Alisa D. Huffman

Alisa D. Huffman is owner of Family & Elder Law in Cary. When she plays the gratitude game with her kids, she always lists her educational opportunities near the top. Early in life, she learned that often, good things come from difficult experiences. College was like that. She was able to attend The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill because of a scholarship from the N. C. Veteran's Administration. This opportunity would not have been possible except for her father's lifelong disability from service in the U. S. Army Air Corps.

Alisa has always been a person serious about life. As an undergraduate studying psychology and religious studies, she enjoyed exploring some of the big, unanswered questions from her childhood: Is there a purpose and meaning to life? If so, how do we find it? Does suffering pay off? What happens after we die?

After receiving her B. A. degree in Psychology from UNC, she entered a three-year graduate program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville Kentucky. At the time she graduated, Southern was the only accredited Master of Social Work program within a seminary. After graduating, she practiced clinical social work for five years before entering law school at Campbell University. Alisa enjoyed practicing law in Wake County before her thirteen-year career as a court manager in state government working with court programs across the state: family courts, custody mediation, drug courts, domestic violence, and alternative dispute resolution.

Like all of us, the formal hats she wears (social worker, lawyer, court administrator) and informal hats (wife, mother, divorceé, sister, friend and caregiver) are integrated into all that she does. These hats, collected over many years, enable her to help clients grow and evolve through some of the tough transitions in life.

Click here for more information about Alisa.
Thomas E. "Tom" Lenfestey III

Thomas E. "Tom" Lenfestey III, The Law Practice Exchange LLC, Cary

Tom is the Managing Member of The Law Practice Exchange, LLC as well as a practicing North Carolina attorney and licensed CPA. Tom's years in the legal world focused on transition and succession planning for other professions including creating, advising and implementing strategic business and estate plans for those clients. In doing so, he came to recognize the lack of knowledge, attention and options that were provided in the legal profession to attorneys for their own practices, specifically in the realm of succession planning and other transition or exit opportunities.

Click here for more information about Tom.
George W. Lennon

George W. Lennon (retired), Lennon Camak & Bertics PLLC, Raleigh

Mr. Lennon is a retired Board Certified specialist in Workers' Compensation law who practiced law for decades, and was driven by his desire to advocate for those in need, a legacy that our firm continues to carry on today. Throughout his career, he represented hundreds of victims who were low-balled by the insurance companies to collect the compensation they deserved.

Mr. Lennon was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, Top Attorneys in North Carolina, and Martindale Hubbell Judicial Edition – Highest Possible Rating in Both Legal Ability & Ethical Standards.

Mr. Lennon is currently retired, and resides in Raleigh, NC with his wife, Betty Anne. They have been involved in numerous civic, professional and community activities by always offering their time and resources to help the greater Raleigh area.

Click here for more information about George.
Nichole P. McLaughlin

Nichole P. McLaughlin is a staff attorney with the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh. As Assistant Ethics Counsel, she gives informal ethics advice to lawyers about their own future conduct via telephone or email, prepares formal ethics opinions and advises the Ethics Committee. She is also the Judicial District Bar Liaison, a role created to improve communication between the State Bar and judicial district bars.

Prior to joining the State Bar, Nichole was in private practice for five years with Donaldson & Black PA in Greensboro and handled asbestos workers' comp cases.

Originally from New Jersey, Nichole graduated from Drew University with a B.A. in English. She earned her J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law.

Click here for more information about Nichole.
Catherine Sanders Reach

Catherine Sanders Reach is Director for the Center for Practice Management at the North Carolina Bar Association, providing practice technology and management assistance to lawyers and legal professionals. Formerly she was Director, Law Practice Management and Technology for the Chicago Bar Association and the Director at the American Bar Association's Legal Technology Resource Center.

Prior to her work at the NCBA, CBA and ABA she worked in library and information science environments for a number of years, working at Ross and Hardies as a librarian. She received a master's degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa in 1997.

Catherine's professional activities include articles published in Law Practice magazine, Law Technology News and GPSolo Magazine, as well as numerous other publications. She has given presentations on the use of technology in law firms for national bar conferences, state and local bar associations and organizations such as the National Association of Bar Council and the Association of American Law Schools. In 2011 she was selected to be one of the inaugural Fastcase 50, celebrating fifty innovators, techies, visionaries, and leaders in the field of law and in 2013 became a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management. She served on the ABA TECHSHOW Board from 2007-2009, 2014-2016 and is co-vice chair in 2019.

Click here for more information about Catherine. Connect with her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Mark A. Scruggs

Mark A. Scruggs is a Senior Claims Counsel with Lawyers Mutual. He joined Lawyers Mutual in March 2001 as claims counsel.

Formerly a partner with Spear Barnes Baker Wainio & Scruggs LLP in Durham, Mark has over 14 years' experience as a trial attorney concentrating in insurance defense litigation. For the last 15 years, he has worked with Lawyers Mutual primarily in litigation-related claims and workers compensation and family law matters.

Mark is a past chair of the Law Practice Management section of the North Carolina Bar Association. He has served as an Advisory Member of the State Bar Ethics Committee and is currently serving as an Advisory Member of the Authorized Practice Committee of the North Carolina State Bar. He also serves as c-chair of the North Carolina Bar Association's "Transitioning Lawyers Commission" working to address issues facing aging lawyers.

Mark is a 1986 cum laude graduate of Campbell University School of Law.

Click here for more information about Mark.
Roberta L. Tepper

Roberta L. Tepper, State Bar of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ

Roberta is the Lawyer Assistance Programs Director for the State Bar of Arizona and has been with the State Bar since 2013. She administers a variety of programs focused on assisting lawyers to achieve success in their practices; provides practice advice to lawyers through Practice 2.0, the Bar's practice management program; administers the Member Assistance Program; and she and her team provide administrative support for the Bar's 30 Sections and two divisions and administer the Online Community. She served as Bar Counsel and then Senior Bar Counsel in the Lawyer Regulation Office from 2004 until she assumed her current position in 2013.

Roberta is an active member of the Law Practice Division of the American Bar Association, serves on the Law Practice Division Council and serves on the as the co- Chair of the 2021 ABA TECHSHOW Board. She is a regular author and contributor to Law Practice Magazine and Law Practice Today. She is the Chair of the Practice Management Advisors of North America, and as a past President of the Arizona Women Lawyers Association Board of Directors and a past chapter President of the AWLA, Maricopa Chapter, Steering Committee, continues to serve on both boards.

A graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law, Roberta is admitted to practice in Arizona, and is an inactive member of the North Carolina and Delaware Bars.

Click here for more information about Roberta.
Laura L. Yaeger

Laura L. Yaeger is a North Carolina attorney who has been engaged in the practice of law in Charlotte, NC for many years. Her experience includes practice in small, medium and large law firms and with an international accounting firm. She is currently a sole practitioner focusing on estate planning, estate administration and business matters.

Her civic involvement includes service on the Boards of Women Executives, Metrolina Association for the Blind, RAIN (Regional Aids Interfaith Network), Friends of Fourth Ward, the Charlotte Estate Planning Council and East Mecklenburg High School Foundation.

Laura is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, Charlotte Estate Planning Council and the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils. She received her B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Chapel Hill in 1973 and her J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law in 1977.
Patrick H. Yanke

Patrick H. Yanke is a CFP and Branch Manager at Yanke Financial in Raleigh. He sees himself as a problem solver and his business is entirely based on relationships with the people he serves and his best relationships come from solving problems for people.

Patrick started his professional life in Army Basic Training at Ft Knox, KY. This was the first step on a journey through Marion Military Institute and the US Air Force Academy to being commissioned an officer in the USAF. He served in five major commands at five installations (including deployments to Saudi Arabia and Southern Italy) before leaving service to start a family and build a business.

Patrick is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy (where he majored in Aeronautical Engineering with a minor in Arabic) and an Air Force veteran.

Patrick started his career in financial planning a cadet at the Academy. Throughout his military tenure, he counseled his personnel on financial matters and money management. After his miltary career, he joined A.G. Edwards in 2000 in Panama City, FL. After building a strong business in Florida, in 2005 Patrick elected to move his family to Raleigh to enjoy the climate, history and culture of North Carolina.

Patrick is a past state president of the Air Force Association, current president of the Air Force Academy Society of NC, and sits on the Industry Advisory Panel for the American Public University System.

The secret of Patrick's success is as simple as the Golden Rule…treat everyone as he wants to be treated. He has been married to his wife, Grete, for over 25 years and they have four children together. They have chosen an active role in the formation of their children through homeschooling.

Patrick is active in his community through the Kiwanis Club of Raleigh, the Knights of Columbus, the Executives Club of Raleigh, and veterans organizations. He is a past state president of the Air Force Association, past president of the Raleigh Kiwanis Foundation, current president of the Air Force Academy Society of NC, serves on the Industry Advisory Panel for the American Public University System, and a regular contributor to "Attorney-at-Law" Magazine.

Click here for more information about Patrick.

Retire? Reset? Reinvent? – Planning for the Next Stage of Your Law Practice; A Dynamic New e-book for Planning for the Next Stage of Your Law Practice

The recently revised and retitled Retire? Reset? Reinvent? – Planning for the Next Stage of Your Law Practice, a publication of the NCBA Professional Vitality Committee, provides practical resources to aid lawyers who stand on the threshold of such transitions. Whether looking forward to a season of well-earned rest, taking on a different role within the profession, or trying an entirely different vocation, the e-book enables attorneys to prepare for and walk into the next stage in their lives with confidence that they have protected their clients, themselves and their families, and met their obligations to colleagues and the bar.

Building on the prior version of the e-book, originally titled Turning Out the Lights, the new publication addresses the ethical and practical issues that accompany various career transitions, such as selling or closing a law practice, taking a sabbatical or other extended leave, or accepting an "of counsel" role. It also provides guidance and resources for those who might be called upon to oversee the winding up of a practice following an unplanned transition, such as a lawyer's unexpected death. Relevant Rules of Professional Conduct are discussed, and sample checklists, pleadings, orders, and correspondence are provided.

The e-book contains useable hyperlinks and forms, making the sample material easy to download and use. The fully digitalized format facilitates periodic updates as well as further exploration of transition-related topics relevant to a broad spectrum of legal professionals at various career stages, not only senior lawyers.

A generous grant from the North Carolina Bar Foundation has enabled publication of the e-book in electronic format. This makes the resource immediately accessible, free of charge, via the Bar Association website and as part of today's program materials.