The Workplace in 2022: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, COVID-19 and More
12:25 Registration
12:55 Welcome and Introductions
1:00 Shift in Workplace Culture*
Brandon L. Boykin, Assistant United States Attorney, Raleigh Cody J. Davis, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Concord Evin Grant, North Carolina Department of Administration, Raleigh Taittiona Miles, NC Prisoner Legal Services, Raleigh Joshua L. Richardson, Buckley LLP, Washington, DC
How has COVID-19 impacted the legal profession? What are the impacts of the social injustices highlighted by the murder of George Floyd and others? What does professionalism look like today? Hear from a panel as they discuss these important topics and walk through an exercise on cultural and implicit awareness.
2:45 Break
2:55 Shift in Practice
Lex-Jordan Ibegbu, Ibegbu Law, Raleigh
Explore impacts to practice, including the use of blockchain technology and the rise (and fall) of cryptocurrencies and hot assets like non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Also, how has contracting through automated processes changed the practice of law? Do these changes create a knowledge gap? And what is needed to move into these spaces?
3:40 Break
3:50 Shift in the Profession
Xavier Lightfoot, Ward and Smith, Raleigh
What has COVID done to employment law and what is the nation seeing regarding employment? The pandemic has highlighted issues of inequity in the workplace and provided opportunity as seen by the Great Resignation of 2021. In this session, learn how lawyers can change their practice and better advocate for their employees and clients.
The world looks very different than it did in March 2020. We've lived in the pandemic environment for two full years, we've seen the effects of social injustices highlighted by the murder of George Floyd and others, and we've seen a reshaping of the workforce.
Contributors
Brandon L. Boykin
Brandon L. Boykin is an Assistant United States Attorney at United States Attorneys' Offices in Raleigh. He is an experienced trial attorney with over several hundred bench trials and numerous felony jury trials ranging from child custody hearings to felony murder in the States of North Carolina and Tennessee.
Prior to his current position, he is former associate on the medical malpractice team at McGuire Woods LLP.
Brandon earned his B.A. in Political Science and Government from Furman University, where he was 4 year letterman for FCS football, and his J.D. from The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
Cody J. Davis is a Medicaid Appeals Staff Attorney at Legal Aid of North Carolina in Concord.
Cody earned his B.A. in Political Science, Philosophy, and Criminology and his M.P.A in Policy Analysis and Management from North Carolina State University. He earned his J.D. from Campbell University School of Law.
Evin L. Grant serves as the NC Department of Administration (NCDOA) Policy Director, in Raleigh, to develop and assist in implementing policies and procedures for departments, initiatives, and task forces, across the State of North Carolina, under the direction of the Secretary of Administration. He also collaborates on statewide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program development, initiatives, and training and advises on employment, non-public education, technology, and more.
Before joining the NCDOA, Evin served as the Assistant Dean of Student Life and Pro Bono Opportunities at Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. For more than a decade, he's had the opportunity to develop various skills and talents working in the private and public (nonprofit, federal, and state) sectors. From being a Magistrate Judge to working in engineering and patent law. From serving as the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization to being an Assistant Dean of Students at a law school. His collection of experiences highlights his passion for advocacy, mediation, and problem-solving.
Active in professional and civic communities, he is a member of the NC Bar Association Minorities in the Profession Committee, the NC Chapter of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, and is also the 2020-2021 Capital City Lawyers Association President. Grant sits on the Board of Directors for the Wake County Bar Association (WCBA) and currently serves on several WCBA committees, including the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, Professionalism Committee, Strategic Development Committee, and the Communications/Technology Committee. He recently served as the Coordinating Editor for the NC Advocates for Justice Trial Briefs Summer 2021 Edition.
Evin holds a B.S. in Applied Criminology from NC State University and a J.D. from the Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. He maintains an active law license in North Carolina. In October 2020, Grant received a COVID-19 Contact Tracing Certificate from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Lex-Jordan Ibegbu is the founding partner at Ibegbu Law in Raleigh. His areas of practice include criminal defense, business law, entertainment law and political consulting. He has a deep interest in politics and also real estate being that he is a licensed realtor.
Lex-Jordan graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a major in Political Science and a double minor in Music and Drama. He was accepted to the University Of Miami School of Law where he was awarded the James Weldon Johnson Fellowship. In addition, he was a Becker & Poliakoff Diversity Scholarship Recipient. He is a licensed attorney in North Carolina and Florida.
Lex-Jordan is very active in his community. He is involved in various political campaigns in North Carolina, and in South Florida. He also engages in a sizable amount of volunteer work with Communities in Schools and as a member of the Triangle YMCA's board of Directors.
In his spare time, Lex-Jordan is a recording artist, songwriter, and producer. He is an avid guitarist and violist. He also leads a highly active lifestyle and likes to stay fit by playing soccer recreationally, and competing in professional track & field meets.
Xavier D. Lightfoot is an employment and personal injury attorney at Ward and Smith in Raleigh. His practice primarily focuses on labor and employment law, serious personal injury and wrongful death, and civil litigation.
As a member of the firm's Labor and Employment Practice Group, X. regularly advises employers on a wide range of labor and employment law issues, including personnel policies and handbooks, employment discrimination and harassment, employee discipline and termination, drug and alcohol testing, and various wage and hour matters. He has also conducted training presentations and webinars for employers on various COVID-19 employment topics such as workforce reduction, ADA compliance, emergency paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements under the FFCRA, best practices and strategies for employers to return workers to the workplace, and preparation of liability waivers.
In addition, X. has experience litigating claims for serious personal injury, including cases involving vehicle accidents, professional malpractice, and premises liability, among other areas. He also represents both corporate and individual clients in a broad range of civil litigation before state and federal courts.
X. earned his B.S in Business Accounting and Finance from East Carolina University and his J.D., cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
Taittiona Miles is a staff attorney with North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services in Raleigh. She has seen firsthand the inequities incarcerated people face daily and, therefore, hopes to use her experiences in order to advance relief for incarcerated people and to promote criminal justice reform.
Taittiona is interested in Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Civil Rights, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. She has interned with NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault and externed with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.
Taittiona is a graduate of North Carolina Central University School of Law.
Joshua L. Richardson is an associate at Buckley LLP in Washington, DC. He represents corporate and individual clients in a variety of government enforcement, litigation, regulatory and compliance matters. He also assists with Tribal/Federal Indian Law and Family Law on a pro bono basis.
Joshua received his J.D., summa cum laude, from the North Carolina Central University School of Law, where he served as the Author Relations Articles Editor for the North Carolina Central University Law Review. He received his B.A., cum laude, from North Carolina State University. Having previously clerked with the North Carolina Supreme Court during his law school tenure, he also maintains a passion for writing and scholarship to assist in developmental writing skills and advocacy in the practice of law.