8:55 Welcome and Introductions
9:00 Keynote Address*
Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr., U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte
Hear from a prominent United States District Court judge, who models professionalism, as he speaks on the importance of professionalism in the practice of law in North Carolina.
10:00 Break
10:10 Attorney Conduct and Discipline Panel*
Gill P. Beck, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina, Asheville (Moderator)
Crystal Carlisle, Brocker Law Firm, Raleigh
Leanor B. Hodge, North Carolina State Bar, Raleigh
F. Lane Williamson, Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, Charlotte
Explore the current trends and developing issues in attorney conduct and discipline from three perspectives: (1) prosecuting disciplinary complaints, (2) defending disciplinary complaints, and (3) presiding over disciplinary cases.
11:10 Break
11:20 Perspectives on Professional Identity Formation: From Law Schools to Legal Practice
Melissa Essary, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, Raleigh
B. Keith Faulkner, Appalachian School of Law, Grundy, VA
David A. Grenardo, University of St. Thomas School of Law – Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, Minneapolis, MN
Tyson C. Leonhardt, Align Technology, Durham (Moderator)
Clayton Morgan, Duke Energy, Raleigh (2022–2023 North Carolina Bar Association President)
Kirk G. Warner, Smith Anderson, Raleigh
Recently, the American Bar Association has implemented revised accreditation standards that require law schools to place a greater emphasis on law students' development of a professional identity and to provide training and education on bias, cross-cultural competency and racism. These expanded requirements set the stage for law schools to be creative in developing "professional identity formation" programming that will benefit law students, clients, legal employers and the practice of law. Additionally, the revised standards provide a wonderful opportunity for law schools, legal employers, bar associations and other stakeholders in the profession to work collaboratively to create a continuum of “professional identity development' beginning in law school and continuing into and throughout practice. This panel — comprised of law professors, deans, legal employers and members of the organized bar — discusses how legal education is addressing the ABA's revised standards and how schools can work alongside the bench and bar to improve legal education and the profession.
12:35 Lunch Break
1:35 Technology in the 21st Century Practice of Law‡
Gill P. Beck, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina, Asheville
Clara Cottrell, BASF Corporation, Research Triangle Park
Will Quick, Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, Raleigh
New technology developments impact the practice of law in ways that practitioners may not fully understand, making it easier to inadvertently disclose confidential or even sealed information and creating vulnerabilities in the movement of large amounts of money and client information. This session explores the inherent dangers of technology — with a focus on cybersecurity, data privacy and security issues generally — to include consideration of shadow applications and the impact of bring your own devices (BYOD) on security. Learn how to identify and mitigate risks associated with new technologies while leveraging technology to enhance the practice of law.
2:35 Break
2:45 A View From the Bench*
Magistrate Judge L. Patrick Auld, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, Greensboro
Justice Robert H. Edmunds Jr. (Ret.), NC Supreme Court, Greensboro
Judge Joseph Crosswhite, NC Superior Court – District 22A, Statesville
Judge Paul L. Jones (Ret.), NC Superior Court – District 8A, Kinston
Judge Debra Sasser, NC District Court – 10th Judicial District, Raleigh
Judge A. Graham Shirley II, NC Superior Court – District 10F, Raleigh
Jesse "Jay" Tillman, North Carolina Industrial Commission, Charlotte (Moderator)
Hear about the importance of professionalism from the eyes of the bench. Featuring a panel of North Carolina judges, this session discusses the importance of professionalism in the practice of law and provides insights to enhance professionalism.
4:00 Break
4:10 Professionalism and Wellness†
Robynn E. Moraites, NC Lawyer Assistance Program, Charlotte
Lawyers suffer increasingly from depression and anxiety — impairments of their own accord, but also major contributing factors to substance abuse. This session examines some of the root causes of lawyer distress and factors that the legal profession itself and lawyers' personalities contribute to these conditions. Based on the premise that "work-life balance" is a modern-day fiction, the presentation focuses on areas of life that lawyers can control in order to increase their happiness and emotional resilience, thereby promoting professionalism.
5:10 Adjourn
* Indicates portion providing Ethics/Professional Responsibility credit
† Indicates portion providing Substance Abuse/Mental Health credit
‡ Indicates portion providing Technology Training credit
Thank you for joining us for Professionalism as We Move Into the Post-pandemic World.
Featuring speakers and panelists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, this year's NCBA Professionalism Committee CLE explores what professionalism means, how it works, and how to promote professionalism as we move into the post-pandemic world.
Magistrate Judge L. Patrick Auld serves in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Greensboro. He was first appointed to the bench in November 2009.
Judge Auld attended Wake Forest University where he double-majored in politics and history. He went on to attend Yale Law School. He clerked for Judge Woody Tilley of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, and then for Judge Phyllis Kravitch of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. He practiced First Amendment and media-related litigation in Atlanta after his clerkships, and then joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Middle District in 1998. He has been Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division in this District since 2004 to 2009.
Gill P. Beck serves as the Chief of the Civil Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of` North Carolina in Asheville. He handles the full range of civil cases involving the United States and federal agencies.
Gill received the U.S. Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award, the U.S. Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award, the North Carolina Governor's Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the Bronze Star for his service as an Army Judge Advocate in Iraq and was promoted to Major General in the U.S. Army Reserve. In 2016 he was selected as North Carolina Lawyer's Weekly North Carolina Lawyer of the Year. He is currently President of the Buncombe County Bar.
Gill is a graduate of Appalachian State University, where he was Captain of the football team and an Academic All-American football player. He attended Duke University School of Law, where he graduated with high honors and served as a Senior Editor for Law and Contemporary Problems.
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Crystal Carlisle is an attorney with The Brocker Law Firm PA in Raleigh. She concentrates her practice in professional licensing and disciplinary matters, representing attorneys, bar candidates, medical professionals, pharmacists, therapists/counselors and contractors, among others. She represents the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners in informal and contested case disciplinary matters and unauthorized practice matters. She also reviews and analyzes management arrangements for the Dental Board.
Crystal is the immediate past Chair of the Professionalism Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association and also serves on the North Carolina Bar Association Administrative Law Council. She has also served as Secretary of the Wake County Bar Association and Tenth Judicial District Bar and on the Professionalism Committee of the WCBA/Tenth where she received the President's Award of Excellence for her work on the committee. Crystal regularly speaks at continuing legal education conferences on professionalism and disciplinary matters. She volunteers her time with Legal Aid's Lawyer on the Line and the North Carolina Bar Foundation's 4All Statewide Service Day.
Crystal attended Thomas M. Cooley Law School at night while working as a paralegal where she graduated, magna cum laude. During law school, she completed an externship with Honorable Janet T. Neff in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Michigan and served as Senior Associate Editor of the Law Review. Crystal practiced law in Michigan for three years, primarily handling civil litigation matters, before relocating back to her home state of North Carolina. Crystal earned her B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and her M.S. in Criminal Justice–Forensic Science from Virginia Commonwealth University.
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Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. serves in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte. In 2005, he was confirmed by unanimous consent to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, where he sits today. He became Chief Judge on June 3, 2006.
From 2004 to 2005, Judge Conrad was a partner at the prominent law firm of Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw. Chief Judge Conrad practiced law in Charlottesville, Virginia, from 1983 to 1986. His private practice focused at different times on commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense, and corporate investigations.
From 1989 to 2004, Chief Judge Conrad worked in the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina. In 1999, Attorney General Janet Reno appointed him to be Chief of the Campaign Finance Task Force, which investigated irregularities in the 1996 presidential campaigns and a Senate campaign.
On October 23, 2001, Chief Judge Conrad was confirmed by unanimous consent to be the United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, where he served until 2004. While the United States Attorney, Chief Judge Conrad chaired the Attorney General's Subcommittee on Gun Crime and Violence.
Judge Conrad has taught at the University of Virginia's trial advocacy college and was an instructor at the Department of Justice's National Advocacy Center in Columbia, SC. He is also an adjunct professor at Wake Forest School of Law.
Judge Conrad attended Clemson University, where he graduated, magna cum laude, and was honored as an academic All-American in basketball. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School.
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Clara R. Cottrell is Assistant General Counsel, Compliance & Privacy for BASF Corporation in Research Triangle Park. As part of the Legal Compliance group, she spends her time exploring and implementing data privacy and protection strategies for the company and in relation to the many digital projects, products, and initiatives across the varied business industries serviced by BASF. She also acts as US support on global and regional projects for data privacy and protection issues.
A registered patent agent, Clara was in private practice at Smith Moore Leatherwood, now Fox Rothschild, in Greensboro, before joining BASF in July 2013. Clara moved into her current data privacy role in January 2020.
Clara is actively involved in the North Carolina Bar Association with the Corporate Counsel Section (past Section Chair) and the Privacy and Data Security Section (Council member) as well as Chairing the NCBA CLE Committee and being a member of the NCBA Membership Committee. She has been named a 40 Under Forty by The Business Journal, a 2013 Legal Elite Young Guns Best Under 40 and a North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Star.
Clara earned her B.S. in Biochemistry from North Carolina State University and went on to earn her J.D. from Wake Forest University. After law school, Clara clerked for the Honorable Judge Ben Tennille (retired) in the North Carolina Business Court.
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Judge Joseph Crosswhite serves in NC Superior Court – District 22A in Statesville.
Joseph Crosswhite served in the United States Army with the JAG Corps and reached the rank of colonel. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina Law School.
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Justice Robert H. "Bob" Edmunds Jr. (Ret.) served as an appellate judge for 18 years, most recently as Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He now serves clients with that same dedication as part of the Fox Rothchild's Appellate group in Greensboro.
Justice Edmunds began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in Greensboro, and later was an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina. In 1986, he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina by President Ronald Reagan and was retained by President George H. W. Bush. Justice Edmunds entered private practice in 1993. In 1998, he was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals and served on that court until his election to the Supreme Court.
Justice Edmunds reentered private practice in 2017, practicing appellate law in the Greensboro office of Fox Rothschild LLP. He is board certified as a specialist in appellate practice and in state and federal criminal law. He is president of the Appellate Judges Education Institute, has chaired the American Bar Association's Appellate Judges Conference, has chaired the North Carolina Bar Association's Judicial Independence and Integrity Committee, and is on the Education Committee of the National Judicial College. He has served as an adjunct professor at Campbell University School of Law and Regent University School of Law.
Justice Edmunds earned his B.A., with honors, from Vassar College, his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law and his LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
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Melissa Essary is a Professor of Law at Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in Raleigh. She has taught employment courses since 1990, after practicing law for five years.
Melissa Essary has been involved in the North Carolina Bar Association in various leadership roles since 2006. She currently serves at the national level as a site reaccreditation team member for the American Bar Association, ensuring that law schools meet ABA accreditation standards. She has served on site teams six times, chairing the last three of those teams.
Melissa loves teaching law students and is filled with gratitude as she sees the positive impact they make on their communities across the state and country. She speaks regularly on the topics of leadership in times of change and employment law. This year, she published a textbook on Client Counseling.
Melissa graduated with highest honors from the University of Texas, then took her law degree from Baylor Law School, finishing second in her class.
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B. Keith Faulkner is the President of Charleston Southern University in Charleston, SC. He was appointed the fourth President of the university on July 26, 2023.
Before being selected president of CSU, Keith had 20 years of higher education experience; he served as president and dean of Appalachian School of Law in Virginia. Prior to this, he served as the dean of Liberty University School of Law and the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business at Campbell University. He also served as interim dean at Campbell University's Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law. Over his career, he and his teams have launched online programs, developed innovative partnerships with industry, enjoyed success in fundraising, and many other notable accomplishments.
Keith earned his B.S., with honors, from Charleston Southern University, his J.D. and M.B.A. from Campbell University and his LL.M. from Baylor University School of Law. He also completed the United States Navy Nuclear Power Training Pipeline. His service included a tour aboard the U.S.S. Billfish (SSN 676), and he was an instructor at Nuclear Power Training Unit (MTS 635).
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David A. Grenardo is the Associate Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions and Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, MN. He teaches professional responsibility, contracts, sports law, business associations, civil procedure, and international sports law.
David has presented on professionalism and ethics multiple times locally, statewide and nationally, including at the American Bar Association,s Annual Meeting and the ABA,s Annual National Conference on Professional Responsibility. He has also been quoted in the ABA Journal on the topic of civility. He practiced law in California and Texas for three large law firms – Jones Day, DLA Piper, and King & Spalding – for nearly a decade before joining the legal academy in 2011.
His scholarship focuses on professional responsibility, sports law, legal pedagogy, and the practice of law. He has published or forthcoming articles in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, the Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law, Pepperdine Law Review, Brooklyn Law Review, Oregon Law Review, UMKC Law Review, and the University of North Carolina School of Law,s First Amendment Law Review, among others.
David earned his B.A. in Political Science & Policy Studies from Rice University and his J.D. from Duke University School of Law. He played football at Rice and was a four-year letterman.
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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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Judge Paul L. Jones (Ret.) is a former senior resident superior court judge for the NC Superior Court – District 8A in Kinston. He retired from the bench in 2016.
Judge Jones served in the U.S. Army and the JAG Corps. He served in active duty and reserves for nearly 29 years, retiring in 2000 as the staff judge advocate for the 108th Division in Charlotte.
Judge Jones also served as a vice president on the North Carolina Bar Association Board of Governors. He has served on the Lenoir Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees, the N.C. State Banking Commission, as President Community Council of the Arts of Lenoir County, President Lenoir County Bar Association and the Eighth Judicial District Bar Association and he currently serves on NC A&T State University Board of Trustees. He is a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine and the John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award from the NC State Bar Association.
Judge Jones earned his B.S. from the North Carolina A&T State University and his J.D. from the North Carolina Central University School of Law.
Tyson C. Leonhardt is Commercial Counsel at Align Technology in Durham.
Prior to joining Align in 2021, Tyson practiced at Williams Mullen and Waldrep LLP.
Tyson earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
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Robynn E. Moraites is the Executive Director of the NC LAP. She obtained her undergraduate degree in education from Florida State and her law degree from UNC at Chapel Hill. Prior to attending law school, she ran a public health program at the University of Miami where she developed continuing medical education programs for healthcare professionals working in the field of geriatric medicine.
Prior to joining the LAP, Robynn practiced law in North Carolina in large firm, small firm, and in-house settings. She has an extensive background and knowledge in helping lawyers in recovery.
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Clayton D. Morgan serves as Associate General Counsel at Duke Energy in Raleigh. He has been with Duke Energy and its predecessors since 1996 and has served as Associate General Counsel since 2004.
Clayton is the 128th and current president of the North Carolina Bar Association. He will also serve as president of the North Carolina Bar Foundation in 2022-23. He served as president-elect of the NCBA and NCBF in 2021-22 and chaired the Audit & Finance Committees of the Association and the Foundation.
Clayton is co-chair of the NCBA Awards and Recognitions Committee. He is a past chair of the Corporate Counsel Section, past chair of the Nominating Committee, and past co-chair of the NCBA Minorities in the Profession Committee. He has been a member of the NCBA and the Corporate Counsel Section for 30 years and was recently honored as the third recipient of the section's Corporate Counselor Award. He served from 2011-14 on the NCBA Board of Governors and the North Carolina Bar Foundation Board of Directors.
Clayton earned his B.S. in Radiologic Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed the joint J.D./M.B.A. program at Wake Forest University, earning his Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the Babcock Graduate School of Management and his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law.
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Steven W. "Will" Quick is a partner at Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP in Raleigh. He has a diverse litigation and regulatory practice, representing businesses and local governments in trial and appellate matters and before state agencies in North and South Carolina. He also advises clients on the design and implementation of privacy compliance programs and assists data breach victims with their response and notification obligations.
Will assists businesses of all types with assessing regulatory obligations and developing privacy compliance programs to meet them. He also helps companies experiencing cybersecurity incidents with the investigation, response and notification process, often coordinating efforts across multiple states.
Will is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), and a Board Certified Specialist in Privacy and Information Security Law by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization.
Will earned his B.A., magna cum laude, and M.B.A. from North Carolina State University and his J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
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Judge Debra Sasser is a District Court Judge in Wake County where she has served for eighteen years, since being first elected in 2004. Her leadership roles on the bench include serving as Chief District Court Judge from September 2020 until August 2021.
Before joining the bench, Judge Sasser spent twelve years in private practice. She began her legal career in Charlotte as a litigation associate with Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman LLP. Upon moving to Raleigh, she worked as an associate with Tharrington Smith LLP. She also served as legal counsel for the North Carolina Guardian ad Litem Program and was a mediator and arbitrator in private practice.
An NCBA member for 30 years, Judge Sasser has served on various committees including the Professionalism Committee and the Judicial Independence and Integrity Committee. She is a member of the NC Association of Women Attorneys and the National Association of Women Judges. She is a frequent presenter at Continuing Judicial Education programs.
Judge Sasser earned her B.S. from Oklahoma State University and spent the next ten years designing and implementing computerized business systems. She earned her J.D., with high honors, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law where she was a member of the North Carolina Law Review and named to the Order of the Coif.
Judge A. Graham Shirley II of Apex, has practiced law in Raleigh since 1993, and was sworn into office in September 2015 as a Wake County Superior Court judge. He grew up in Virginia, graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and received his law degree from the College of William and Mary.
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Jesse "Jay" Tillman is Deputy Commissioner with the North Carolina Industrial Commission in Charlotte. He was appointed in August of 2015. Before joining the Commission, he was in private practice concentrating in the areas of personal injury, products liability, and real property liability. He is admitted to practice law in both North Carolina and South Carolina.
Jay is also a recently retired Captain of the United States Navy (reserve component) and last served while activated and mobilized as the Occupational Safety and Operations Risk Management Officer and as a battle director for the Commander of U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. He was also active in Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Inherent Resolve.
Jay earned his B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his J.D. from the Campbell University School of Law.
Kirk G. Warner is a trial lawyer and partner at Smith Anderson in Raleigh. For forty years, he has been trial counsel to major automotive and consumer products manufacturers and defended catastrophic loss and class action lawsuits nationally. He has served on the NCBA Board of Governors and founded its Military and Veterans Law Section. He currently serves as a Commissioner on the NC Military Affairs Commission and previously served as a Commissioner on the Equal Access to Justice Commission.
Kirk is a retired Army Colonel, Iraqi War Commander, and Senior Army Judge Advocate who was legal counsel to three Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a National Command Staff Judge Advocate. Kirk is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and an Advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is the Vice-Chair of the NC State Bar LAMP Committee. He has served as board chair for many community organizations including the March of Dimes, USO of NC, Rotary Club of Raleigh, and the Veterans Life Center. He has published two award-winning books.
Kirk earned his B.S. in Zoology from The Ohio State University, J.D. from Duke University and University of Toledo, M.A. in History from North Carolina State University, M.S.S. in Strategic Studies from U.S. Army War College and his M.B.A. in Biosciences from North Carolina State University. In addition to five degrees, he is a graduate of the Command & General Staff College and the Army War College.
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F. Lane Williamson is an attorney at Tin Fulton Walker & Owen in Charlotte. He handles alternative dispute resolution, attorney disciplinary and ethics matters, and complex business litigation.
Lane has handled all manner of civil cases during a long career in private practice before being named as a Special Superior Court Judge in 2011.
Lane received his undergraduate degree at New College and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.
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