8:55 Welcome and Introductions
9:00 Let the Good Times Roll, Part One: Cohabitation Agreements
Irene P. King, King Collaborative Family Law, Charlotte
Explore the use of cohabitation agreements for clients who do not plan to marry.
9:31 Let the Good Times Roll, Part Two: Premarital Agreements
Cary E. Close, Close Smith Family Law, Raleigh
Discuss the who, what, when, where and how of prenups.
10:06 On the Rocks
Kristin Kelly Broyles, Halvorsen Family Law Group, Winston-Salem
Dive into the options for a client whose marriage is on the rocks, including postnuptial agreements, reconciliation agreements, separation agreements, parenting agreements and support agreements.
11:06 Break
11:16 Sealing the Deal: Mediation
Katie Hardersen King, Wake Family Law Group, Raleigh
We've guided our client through a negotiation; now what? Tackle the ins and outs of family law mediation, including notary requirements, formalities, execution and additional instruments.
12:03 Lunch Break
12:33 Managing the Chaos: Arbitration
Charles W. "Chas" Coltrane, Coltrane & Overfield PLLC, Greensboro
Barbara R. Morgenstern, Morgenstern & Associates PLLC, Greensboro
Robin J. Stinson, Bell Davis & Pitt PA, Winston-Salem
Even the best-laid plans do not always work, resulting in arbitration. Discuss the top issues that should be arbitrated and review the mechanics of arbitration, including recording proceedings, time limit and exhibits. Then analyze the arbitration contract, possible pitfalls, the award and confirming the award.
1:49 Break
1:59 All Heck Broke Loose: Breach of Contract
Michelle D. Connell, Fox Rothschild LLP, Raleigh
T. Michael "Mike" Godley, Godley Glazer & Funk PLLC, Mooresville
What happens when court is our best option? Before litigation begins, determine how material is material and whether one breach invalidates another. Examine demand letters, the mechanics of a complaint, contract defenses, and different types of remedies including damages, specific performance and enforcement of judgments.
2:59 Adjourn
Thank you for joining us for Contracts Are Sexy Too (2021 Family Law Fall Program).
Some family law practitioners may consider contracts to be boring or a necessary evil, but the 2021 Family Law Fall Program takes a deep dive into this practice and shows attendees that "contracts are sexy too."
Andrea Bosquez-Porter is with Bosquez Porter Family Law in Raleigh. Her primary areas of practice are family law and divorce.
Andrea is an active volunteer in her community, served as a Site Coordinator for the North Carolina Bar Association's 4All Statewide Service Day since 2010. She also uses her fluency in Spanish to help Legal Aid of North Carolina's Project Together where she represents Spanish-speaking clients in complex restraining order cases. She serves as a supervising attorney for the Campbell Law School Domestic Violence Advocacy Project. She serves on the North Carolina Bar Association Family Law Section Council, and is a member of the Wake County Bar Association. Andrea also serves on the Wake County Bar Association's Public Service Committee.
Andrea earned her B.A. in Religion and History from Vassar College, M.B.A. in Non-profit and Public Management from The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and her J.D., with honors, from the University of Wisconsin Law School. She is licensed to practice law in North Carolina and in Wisconsin.
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Judge Kristin Kelly Broyles was appointed in February 2022 by Governor Roy Cooper to serve as a district-court judge in Judicial District 21 in Forsyth County. Prior to she served as a partner with the Halvorsen Family Law Group in Winston-Salem. Previous to that she was a partner at Kelly & Payne PLLC in Winston-Salem, and she worked as an adjunct professor at Forsyth Technical Community College.
Kristin is a North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Family Law and a Certified Parenting Coordinator. She is the recipient of the 2020 40 under 40 award from the Triad Business Journal and the 2018 40 under 40 Alumni Award from North Carolina Central University. Kristin has been recognized as a Best Lawyers in America since 2019, a Rising Star by SuperLawyers since 2016 and has been recognized as a Legal Elite in Family Law from Business North Carolina. She was a member of the 2017 Leadership Academy class sponsored by the North Carolina Bar Association and was one of sixteen attorneys chosen from across the state to be involved in the program.
Kristin is an experienced litigator and a strong advocate for her clients in and out of the courtroom. She is admitted to practice in all state courts in North Carolina as well as the Federal Courts in the Middle District of North Carolina. Kristin was recently elected as Vice President for the Executive Committee of the 21st Judicial District Bar/Forsyth County Bar Association. She has served on the Ethics and Grievance Committee for the 21st Judicial District Bar/Forsyth County Bar Association, was a Past-President for the Forsyth County Criminal Defense Trial Lawyers Association and Past-President of the Forsyth County Young Lawyers Division. She is also a member of the Forsyth County Women’s Attorneys Association and a member of the North Carolina Bar Association.
Kristin earned her B.A. in Political Science from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
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Cary E. Close is managing partner and founder of Close Smith Family Law in Raleigh. She started the firm as a solo practice in 2006 with the goal of providing the highest quality legal services to men and women faced with the biggest crisis of their life: a divorce. An equally important goal was to maintain a personal connection with each and every client, which continues to this day.
Cary is a Raleigh native who has been married for 27 years and is a mother of three. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Campbell Law School, cum laude, where she was a member of Law Review and the Moot Court team. After law school, Cary clerked for the Honorable K. Edward Greene at the N.C. Court of Appeals.
For more than a decade, each year Cary has been selected by her peers across the state as one of the top family lawyers, as published in Business North Carolina's "Legal Elite" issue and North Carolina Super Lawyers. The firm is consistently ranked as Top Tier by U.S. News – Best Law Firms.
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Charles W. "Chas" Coltrane is a member of the Greensboro law firm of Coltrane & Overfield PLLC, where he practices family law and serves as a mediator and arbitrator for family law cases.
Chas has been a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law in North Carolina since 1996, and he was the Chair of the Family Law Specialization Committee of the North Carolina State Bar from 2009 to 2012. He was the Chair of the Family Law Council of the Family Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association from 2001-2002, and has served on or chaired several committees of the Family Law Section.Chas has been a Fellow in the North Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers since 2012 (Chapter President in 2019). He is also certified as a family financial mediator by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission.
Chas earned his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law. He is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and the Georgia State Bar.
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Michelle D. Connell is a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP in Raleigh. She is a Board Certified Specialist in the areas of Family Law and Appellate Law. She is a Fellow in the North Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers having been President of the Chapter in 2020. She is a former Chairperson of the NCBA Family Law Section. She served on the NCBA Appellate Rules Committee having been Chairperson of that committee in 2017. She is on the NC State Bar Board of Specialization Committee for Appellate Law. Michelle practices in the area of Family Law in both the trial and appellate courts. She regularly speaks at continuing legal education seminars state and nationwide.
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T. Michael "Mike" Godley is a partner and certified family financial mediator with Godley Glazer & Funk PLLC in Mooresville. His practice areas include: mamily law mediation, divorce, equitable distribution, postseparation support and alimony, child custody, child support, domestic violence, civil no contact matters, alienation of affections, criminal conversation, prenuptial/premarital agreements and post-nuptial agreements.
Mike earned his B.S. in Industrial Relations with an emphasis on Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1982 and his J.D. from Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in 1985.
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Monica R. Guy is a partner at Kurtz Evans Whitley Guy & Simos PLLC in Winston-Salem. She concentrates her practice in the area of family and domestic issues.
Monica attended Florida State University and Wake Forest University School of Law. She became a Certified Family Law Specialist by North Carolina Bar Association in 2008. Monica has served on the Family Law Council of the North Carolina Bar Association and on the Grievance Committee of the 21st Judicial District Bar. She is rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell, has been honored as a Top 50 Woman by North Carolina Super Lawyers, has been listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers in Family Law, Best Lawyers in America® in Family Law, Business North Carolina Magazine Legal Elite Family Law, and North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Stars in Family Law.
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Irene P. King is an experienced Collaborative Divorce lawyer, mediator and fully recovered trial lawyer. In 2015, after litigating high conflict cases for over a decade at James McElroy and Diehl PA, in Charlotte, Irene put down her sword and battle shield and founded King Collaborative Family Law, where she compassionately guides clients in resolving all family conflict outside of the courtroom. She is a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law and devotes a significant amount of her practice to negotiating and preparing Prenuptial, Postnuptial, Separation and Cohabitation Agreements.
Originally from Indiana, Irene graduated, summa cum laude, from Miami University of Ohio in 2000 with a B.A. in political science and a minor in vocal music performance. She earned her J.D. from The University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill where she clerked for everyone's favorite family law professor, Sally Sharp.
Irene is a North Carolina Super Lawyer in Family Law, Legal Elite, and has received other accolades for her work as a family lawyer. She is the past President and Executive Board member of the Charlotte Collaborative Divorce Professionals, and an active member of the North Carolina Collaborative Attorney Network, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, My Collaborative Team, NC Civil Collaborative Law Association, Association of Family Conciliation Courts, Global Collaborative Law Council, North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, Charlotte Women Lawyers and other organizations.
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Katie Hardersen King is a partner at Wake Family Law Group (Schilawski O’Shaughnessy Grace King & Mauney PLLC) in Raleigh. She works with clients in matters involving North Carolina family law litigation, mediation, negotiations, and appeals. She is a Board-Certified Family Law Specialist, Certified Parenting Coordinator, and Certified Family Financial Mediator.
Katie is the Immediate Past Chair of the Family Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. She recently completed a 3-year term as a Council Member for the Family Law Section and was Secretary of the Section from 2011-2020. She serves on the Section's Adoption and Modern Family Committees. Katie is also a member of the Wake County Bar Association and served a 3-year term on the Board of Directors ending in 2021. She is currently the Chair of the Tenth Judicial District's Grievance Committee, which investigates complaints involving lawyers' ethical conduct. She has previously served on the Tenth Judicial District's Fee Dispute Resolution Committee. Katie is also an ally attorney member of the LGBT Family Law Institute, a group of family law practitioners from across the country who are experienced in representing members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Katie earned her B.A. in English and Political Studies, cum laude, from Meredith College and her J.D. from Campbell University School of Law.
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Barbara R. Morgenstern is the managing partner of Morgenstern & Associates PLLC in Greensboro. Her practice is limited solely to family law. She is a specialist in family law by the North Carolina State Bar and has been a fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She is certified as an arbitrator by the AAML and spends a substantial amount of her time conducting mediations and arbitrations.
Barbara has served as chair of the Family Law Section of the Greensboro and North Carolina Bar Associations, on various committees of the Family Law Section and currently serves on the Family Law CLE Committee. She served on the Family Law Specialization Committee of the North Carolina State Bar for 7 years and as Chair for 2.
Barbara is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars sponsored by such providers as the North Carolina Bar Association, UNC Law School, Wake Forest University School of Law, and the Greensboro and High Point Bar Associations. She has also served as an adjunct professor of family law at Wake Forest University School of Law and as a guest lecturer at the UNC School of Law. She has been an adjunct professor of family law at Elon School of Law every year since 2008.
Barbara graduated from Indiana University and from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
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Robin J. Stinson of Bell, Davis & Pitt, PA in Winston-Salem, NC focuses her practice on all areas of family law and dispute resolution, including complex marital estates and financial issues in equitable distribution, alimony and child custody and support cases. Robin has practiced in Winston-Salem and surrounding counties for more than 37 years, having practiced at several family law firms before joining Bell, Davis & Pitt to start its family law practice in 1997. Robin has been certified as a Family Law Specialist by the North Carolina State Bar since 1991 and she is a fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Robin has been an active member of the Family Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, having served on the Association’s Board of Governors, the Foundation’s Board of Governors, and as Chair of the Family Law Section. Robin is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars, including presentations on such topics as third parties in equitable distribution cases, determining marital debt, and imputing income in alimony and child. Robin regularly serves as mediator, arbitrator and parenting coordinator in numerous family cases.
Robin received her undergraduate degree at Duke University, cum laude, and her law degree from UNC School of Law. She is a past recipient of the James E. Cross, Jr. Leadership Award presented by the Board of Legal Specialization of the North Carolina State Bar, presented in 2007, and was selected for the YWCA Women of Vision Leadership Award presented in 2002 and 2009.
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