President’s Perspective: Our Virtual and Vital Year Together

February 16, 2021

It is an honor and a privilege to share the 2020-21 bar year with all of you. These unique and challenging times present distinct opportunities and responsibilities as we fulfill our commitment to serve the public and our profession.

I believe now, more than ever, what the public needs most from us is a strong legal community working together to make sure the legal needs of the people of our state are met within a system of justice in which all have confidence.

We strive to help our profession come together to meet this need by providing a welcoming and nurturing home for North Carolina’s legal community.

A home where our members feel supported.
A home where our members share community and fellowship with other legal professionals.
A home where our members access the resources they need to excel in their areas of practice.
A home where the highest ideals of integrity, civility and professionalism are promoted and celebrated.
A home where the humanity and dignity of each person in our profession and the public we serve are valued and respected.
A home where pro bono and public service are our highest calling.

North Carolina Bar Association – a Year of Virtual Engagement

Our NCBA sections, divisions and committees remain engaged and committed to pursuit of our vital mission throughout this virtual year. Recent updates and activities include:

On December 11, the Minorities in the Profession Committee (MIP) hosted its second biennial Diversity and Inclusion Symposium in a virtual format with over 200 registered participants. On February 27, MIP will present its annual ¡Adelante! Moving Forward program in an online format.
At its Winter Board Meeting via webcast, the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association approved the NCBA’s 2021-22 Legislative Agenda.
The NCBA Young Lawyers Division sponsored virtual wellness sessions in January, including “Hidden Burdens: Mental Health in the Legal Profession.”
On January 28, law students from across the state joined NCBA section leaders for the annual NCBA Law Student Networking Reception in a virtual format with over 160 participants.
On February 9, the Pro Bono Committee held a “Mega Meeting” bringing together over 60 participants in a virtual gathering to promote pro bono engagement in 2021.
December’s “Mingling With Membership” virtual event, “Best Practices for Remote Hearings,” was followed in February by “Crafting Enforceable Settlement Agreements at Mediation” with over 80 participants.
The 2021 NCBA YLD Legal Feeding Frenzy will take place throughout the month of March, raising money for local food banks across North Carolina.

NCBA Live Webcasts and On-Demand CLE offerings remain robust and timely for North Carolina’s legal community. Also this month, the Association hosts its biggest event of the year, called February Finale. A sample of recent and upcoming offerings include:

In-House Practice in the Age of COVID-19 (2021 Corporate Counsel Section Annual CLE)
Understanding Coverage Issues, Ethical Concerns and Remote Proceedings in Response to COVID-19 (2021 Insurance Law Section CLE)
COVID, COVID Go Away, Workers’ Comp Is Here to Stay (2021 Workers’ Compensation Winter Program)
The Business Lawyer as First Responder (2021 Business Law Section Program)
Hot Topics of Real Property (2021 Real Property Winter Program)
Business Valuation for Family Lawyers (2021 February Finale CLE)
Civil Procedure Best Practices in 2021 (2021 February Finale CLE)
Practicing Civility, Keeping Your Data Secure and Staying Sane During COVID (2021 February Finale CLE)

Expert Series is provided monthly as part of your NCBA membership. Recent expert series topics include:

WFH: Protecting Your Data in a Virtual Environment (February 2021)
North Carolina State Bar Update and Ethics Review (January 2021)
Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (December 2020)
BarCARES and NCLAP: Working Together to Help Lawyers in Need (November 2020)
Pro Bono Practice in North Carolina (October 2020)

Report on Relationships with Systemic Racism

The North Carolina Bar Association recently completed and published an important report identifying its relationships with systemic racism. The report is a result of research that began in relation to a North Carolina Bar Foundation Justice Fund that honors Governor Charles B. Aycock. The research followed the issuance of a report by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill regarding Aycock and others.

Research into Aycock’s involvement in the founding of NCBA led to the need to understand the involvement of participants in the white supremacy political campaign of 1898 with the organization of the NCBA in 1899, and to understand the struggle required for the NCBA to admit its first non-white members in 1967.

The report, which includes details of this research, is available here. The report also describes the unanimous action of the Board of Governors of the NCBA and the Board of Directors of the NCBF taken on November 23, 2020, in response to the findings of this research.

These actions include an acknowledgement of the role of several of our organization’s founding members and early officers in white supremacy efforts in our state and acknowledges that our association resisted integration and offers a full and complete apology to all individuals, known and unknown, who were denied admission to our organization on the basis of race.

The goal of embarking on this research was to obtain, as best we could, a fuller understanding of the facts regarding our history in relation to systemic racism. For our association to effectively address and move forward on issues of race and to encourage healing and reconciliation, we need to be aware of and acknowledge events that brought us to where we are today. I am grateful to our Boards and to our membership for their dedication in examining these troubling historical truths and addressing our past with courage and humility, for the benefit of our future.

I invite you to read the report, including important steps we are taking as an organization in this ongoing process of healing and reconciliation and building for our future.

North Carolina Bar Foundation – a Year of Service

As a growing number of North Carolinians face economic hardships and associated legal needs, the North Carolina Bar Foundation provides our profession opportunities to serve those who need us most through pro bono and public service programs. Our programs now operate in a virtual format allowing attorneys, paralegals and law students to volunteer remotely.

Please mark your calendars for March 5 and register now to volunteer for this year’s 4ALL Statewide Service Day, a pro bono event in which attorneys take calls from across the state. In the past, nearly 10,000 callers have received legal information on this annual day of service.

This year, 4ALL will take place in a virtual format with the same technology utilized with our six COVID-19 Virtual Legal Hotlines, in which over 330 volunteers served over 3,700 callers. As with the hotlines, 4ALL volunteer attorneys will sign up to take calls in the practice areas of their choice. Calls will be screened by volunteer paralegals and law students.

NC Free Legal Answers continues to be an ideal way for attorneys to provide pro bono advice to low-income North Carolinians during COVID-19. The advice is provided through the program’s web portal in the practice areas of your choice. Currently, we have 469 North Carolina attorneys registered as volunteers. Over 1,750 client questions were answered in 2020. Please register and provide pro bono conveniently from your home or office at the time of your choosing.

NC LEAP provides business advice to low wealth entrepreneurs through informational webinars. Volunteer attorneys conducted clinics last fall with non-profit organizations in Asheville and Charlotte. Others are planned early in 2021.

The Wills for Heroes program is converting to a virtual format utilizing a document production app to support volunteer work on behalf of first responders in providing wills, health care powers of attorney and durable powers of attorney. A pilot clinic in the virtual format will be held in February.

These are some of the ways we continue to unite our profession to be a power of greater good for our state in this time of particular need. We welcome your participation as a volunteer as well as your financial support of our mission to serve others.

Conclusion

So often in our virtual gatherings, we express a heartfelt desire to “be together” again. We all yearn for a time when we can meet in person. But in a sense, the opportunities we’ve had to “be together” in creative ways this past year have perhaps been more meaningful and sustaining to our members than ever before.

Erna Womble, Chair of the NCBA Professional Vitality Committee, affirms the value of the experiences we share observing that “connecting with fellow lawyers and judges is personally and professionally rewarding and it boosts well-being” in her article “Dark and Stormy Nights, Silver Linings, and Attorney Well-Being,” published recently in “Law Practice Today.”

As we begin 2021, let’s recommit ourselves to being a part of a strong legal community in which we support each other and serve those in need. While recognizing the hopeful road we now travel, we realize that difficult challenges remain before us. As a bar association and as bar members, we must continue to practice patience, perseverance and extend grace to all as we continue in our virtual and vital year together.

Mark Holt is the 2020-21 President of the North Carolina Bar Association and North Carolina Bar Foundation.