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Welcome to ACC Charlotte's
2nd Quarter Newsletter 2019
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A Message from Chapter President
Taryn Mecia
Happy Spring, ACC Charlotte members! 2019 is well underway, and I hope you've been able to attend some of our wonderful events. Our Gala on March 30 at Carmel Country Club was a great success (with beautiful weather), as was our annual GC Dinner on May 16. In addition, our first Women's Self-Care event on June 6 gave more than 90 members and sponsors an opportunity to relax, network and enjoy an afternoon together. We've also had additional women's events, affinity group events and networking/CLE events. There will be plenty of opportunities to network with fellow members, get CLE credits and participate in community service later this year, so stay tuned to our Monday emails!
I recently had the privilege of being a member of the second cohort of the Advanced Management Program for Legal Executives, which was jointly developed by ACC Charlotte and UNC Charlotte. This nine-month program filled gaps in my education in the areas of corporate finance and accounting, which have already proven useful. For those interested in "soft skills," other modules included authentic leadership and personal branding, ethical leadership and executive presence. Do you ever think about how others form an impression of you based on how fast you walk around the office, or what kind of pens you use? I didn't either, before this program. A marketing module also gave me perspective on the goals of the marketing team in my office, a group I work with often. If any of these topics appeal to you, I encourage you to consider participating in the third cohort of this program later this fall. Not only did it increase my substantive knowledge, but it also gave me concrete ways to consider my leadership style, brand and presence. In addition, I got to spend time with fellow ACC Members, which was a huge benefit!
One of our Board initiatives this year was to get feedback from our members. Thanks to all of you who completed our 2019 membership survey! The Board of Directors and Committee Chairs will use this information to make sure we're providing you with maximum value for your membership. We'll share results of the survey soon.
On programming, you're probably aware that beginning this year, the North Carolina Bar is requiring an annual one-hour Technology CLE. For those members who were able to attend our April 3 Byron's event on Practical Solutions for Social Media Challenges, or our May 7 event in Winston-Salem on Managing a Cybersecurity Breach Investigation, we're very pleased to report that both of these CLEs satisfied your 2019 requirement. For those who missed these CLEs, we are applying for Technology credit for a September 4th event in Charlotte. Stay tuned, and be sure to register for that event.
In addition, please mark your calendars for the first Wednesday of each month for our Byron's lunches (except for July, which will be the second Wednesday). These are our best-attended events and are a great time for both new and old members to network, catch up with friends, meet our sponsors and get quality CLE programming.
I look forward to seeing you all at our events throughout the year. If you ever have feedback or questions, please talk with a Board member at our monthly Byron's lunches. We all wear ribbons on our name tags so that we can be easily identified. See you soon!
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Platinum Sponsor:
Fox Rothschild
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Fox Rothschild LLP is a national law firm with 27 offices coast to coast. Home to 950 attorneys working in 60+ diverse practice areas, Fox provides clients with the razor-sharp focus of a boutique and the robust reach and resources of a full-service firm. Key practice areas include Bankruptcy, Cannabis Law, Corporate, Employment, Entertainment, Gaming, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Medical Technology, Mergers & Acquisitions, Privacy & Data Security, Real Estate and Tax. Fox consistently earns top marks for client service, responsiveness, providing value and adopting innovative approaches. At Fox, we care about your success as much as you do.
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Platinum Sponsor Feature Article
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MAKING NORTH CAROLINA BETTER FOR BUSINESS,
ONE OPINION AT A TIME
By: Jeffrey P. MacHarg and Matthew W. Krueger-Andes
North Carolina's Business Court has quietly been resolving tough legal questions for more than 20 years. Business Court Judges have issued hundreds of opinions, each one contributing to a developed body of North Carolina commercial case law. Having this precedent adds predictability, narrows disputes, and reduces litigation spend. The Business Court's work in settling unsettled law is perhaps its most valuable contribution to North Carolina business and is another reason to consider litigating your dispute in this forum.
About the North Carolina Business Court
The North Carolina Business Court was created in 1995 as a division of North Carolina's General Court of Justice. The aim was twofold: provide a specialized forum for complex commercial cases and develop a body of commercial law to guide our business community.
Unlike typical Superior Court Judges, Business Court Judges do not split their time or dockets with criminal matters. They are all business, all the time. Currently, the Business Court has five judges whose chambers are in Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Raleigh. The judges are all former civil practitioners. Unlike regular state court where judges rotate and mid-case hearings and trials are typically handled by different judges, Business Court Judges will know your case because they preside from beginning to end. Having to answer to one judge also keeps attorneys and parties in line. This makes proceedings more efficient and predictable than regular state court.
In many ways, the Business Court operates like a federal court. Business Court judges are appointed to five-year terms, not elected. Business Court judges have law clerks, which increases capacity and ensures issues are researched and thoughtfully considered. There is electronic filing (not yet available in regular state court), and motions must be briefed. Similar to federal court, subject matter jurisdiction is also limited. Business Courts may handle only certain disputes. These include internal corporate or shareholder issues, trade secrets, intellectual property, and certain large (over $1 million) commercial disputes. And unlike a typical superior court judge - who can issue one-word orders (e.g., GRANTED) - Business Court opinions are reasoned, describing the factual and legal bases for a ruling. In the past two calendar years, the Business Court has issued more than 250 reasoned opinions, which serve as precedent to subsequent litigants.
All of this provides businesses a more predictable, orderly forum to litigate complex disputes, making North Carolina a better place to do business in the process.
North Carolina's Business Court Is Unique
According to the National Center for State Courts, 31 states have some type of specialty division, court, or forum for business or complex litigation. Although Fox Rothschild LLP is new to Charlotte (via the recent merger with Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP), Fox has offices in many of these states.
After talking with Fox colleagues who regularly litigate in these courts, North Carolina's Business Court clearly stands out. South Carolina, for example, has designated business court judges, but there are no special rules and there is no perceptible push to develop a body of commercial case
law. Pennsylvania has complex divisions with judges who handle mostly commercial disputes,
but these complex divisions are only in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and like most Courts, the complex divisions are not tasked with developing a body of commercial case law. The same is generally true for commercial and chancery courts and divisions in Nevada, New York and New Jersey. Delaware's prolific Chancery Court, of course, leads the nation's legal thinking on many commercial issues; but it is a court of equity, and its jurisdiction is limited to claims involving some equitable relief. Among the country's business courts, the North Carolina Business Court's ability
to handle a range of commercial disputes (not just equity), its one-case, all-business judges, and
its commitment to issuing reasoned opinions makes the North Carolina Business Court truly unique.
Parting thought
North Carolina's business court is unique and important; but even after 20 years, some lawyers
still shy from it. There seems to be a sentiment that the Business Court's rules and formality only
add expense, not value. This overlooks the efficiencies, predictability, and the significance of having
a well-developed body North Carolina commercial case law. North Carolina has an exceptional
forum to litigate business disputes, and North Carolina businesses should avail themselves of it
when they can. Indeed, using the Business Court is good for business.
Jeffrey P. MacHarg
is a business litigation partner in the Charlotte, NC, office of Fox Rothschild LLP,
a national law firm. He counsels clients on complex commercial litigation matters and is a member
of the firm's Energy & Natural Resources, Financial Services Industry and Privacy & Data Security practice groups. He can be reached at
[email protected].
Matthew W. Krueger-Andes
is a litigation associate in the Charlotte, NC, office of Fox Rothschild LLP, a national law firm. He previously served as a law clerk to Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III of the
North Carolina Business Court and now advises clients on a range of commercial litigation issues
and tax matters. He can be reached at
[email protected]
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Welcome New ACC Charlotte Members!
(March - May 2019)
Adam Altman, Attorney at Movement Mortgage
Megan Baer, General Counsel at Alliance Legal Solutions
Catherine Bragg, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel at TRC Companies, Inc.
Paul Cappiello, Vice President, Tax, at Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc.
Dana Christian, Counsel at Sunlight Financial LLC
Daniel Cohn, Senior Counsel at Wells Fargo Law Department
Jon DeShetler, Corporate Counsel at Ingersoll-Rand Company
Susan Dion, Managing Director at Barings
Jeremy Falcone, Counsel, Employment Section at Wells Fargo
Joshua Farnsworth, Corporate Counsel at Hickory Springs Manufacturing Co.
Sarah Freeman, Counsel and AVP at Bank of America Corporation
Forrest Fu, Corporate Counsel at Lowe's Companies, Inc.
Thomas Huyck, Chief Legal Officer at Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Karen Kaplan, VP, Legal Services at Premier Inc.
Kari Kuehl, Associate General Counsel TIAA Bank
Tim Lendino, Corporate Counsel at Compass Group USA, Inc.
Kramer Ortman, Corporate Counsel at
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
Molly Poole, Associate Legal Counsel at SERC Reliability Corporation
Amy Puckett, VP Relationship Management and Compliance at E4E Relief
Jennifer Scott, Counsel at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Brian Vavra, Assistant General Counsel at Collins Aerospace
Judith Whelan, Senior Counsel at Wells Fargo Law Department
Jolee Wortham, Counsel at Wells Fargo Law Department
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Charlotte Community Spotlight
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Legal Operations: Pointers for Developing your Team
Legal operations is increasingly in the spotlight and some consider the role to be the new frontier for in-house legal teams. This comes as no surprise considering numerous testimonies about the positive results that many legal operations teams produce.
To help legal teams improve their core operations, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) published several articles in the March 2019 issue of the
Docket providing how-to information, tools and guidelines for building effective legal operations teams. While all this is helpful, some may wonder where to start, especially if working with a small legal team or a limited budget.
Tom Trujillo, Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel & COO of the Wells Fargo Law Department, has successfully developed the legal operations teams at Wells Fargo and at his prior employer, Bank of America. In fact, Tom's work at Bank of America was featured in the 2017 issue of the
ACC Legal Operations: Leading Practices in Implementing Strategy, Leading Change, and Advancing Law Department Excellence. With this experience, Tom offers a few pointers for anyone considering how to start a new, or improve on an existing, legal operations team.
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Don't boil the ocean. Identify the most pressing problems with respect to the expectations of the business leadership, address those issues first and then build or expand the legal operations functions." Tom notes that this can vary by company or business team. For instance, the primary issue for one team may be managing expenses while another might be reporting analytics. Tackling one issue, or maybe two at most, positions the team to develop workable solutions that deliver results.
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Once the priorities are identified, ACC resources can help a legal team develop the approach and design solutions. The ACC recognizes 14 legal operations management functions which are highlighted in the ACC Legal Operations Maturity Model Toolkit (the "Toolkit"). The Toolkit provides a framework and benchmarks for these functions and offers guidance for structuring legal operations to address specific issues.
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Don't sell yourself short, get enough support from the business to succeed." In this case, support means both business buy-in and resource allocation. Tom notes that without adequate funding and/or resources, legal operations will have difficulty generating the desired results and maximizing its potential value. While Tom cautions that budget requests should be reasonable, it's important to secure the resources needed to address the issues and generate value.
To further support in-house legal teams, ACC National established the ACC Legal Operations Section available to all ACC members. The ACC Legal Operations Section offers opportunities to collaborate with other legal operation professionals through Interest Groups, Regional Groups, and an annual conference. Abigail T. Adams, Director of Legal Management Services of the Association of Corporate Counsel located in Washington, DC is a valuable resource and can be contacted at: [email protected]. Robert Fleischacker is the Charlotte Chapter liaison to the ACC Legal Operations Section, and can offer guidance and facilitate access to this organization at: [email protected].
About the Author: Karen B. Clark is an Assistant General Counsel, VP of Legal Services at Premier Inc. and is a member of the ACC Charlotte Communication's Committee.
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Community Service Baking Event
On May 21, 2019, ACC Charlotte members joined the attorneys at Littler Mendelson for a baking event benefiting our local Ronald McDonald House in Charlotte. Thanks to the assistance of the CPCC's chefs, everyone helped bake, decorate and pack goodies that were much appreciated by the Ronald McDonald House, as the house is at full capacity. Our members enjoyed delicious appetizers, desserts and drinks while waiting for our desserts to be cooked and then packed them up in the car to be delivered!
Thank you to our generous sponsor,
Littler Mendelson
for making this important community event happen!
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Law of Advertising CLE at Myers Park Country Club
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On May 14, 2019, we had over 75 members attend our CLE event sponsored by Kilpatrick Townsend held at Myers Park County Club. The panel discussed the "Law of Advertising" and were informed on how to be able to spot legal issues in their own campaigns. The CLE was conducted by an informative and fun panel consisting of Ty Lord and Laura Miller, Partners at Kilpatrick Townsend and Jeremy Liebman, Senior Counsel at Krispy Kreme. A great surprise was had by all when everyone was able to take home fresh and warm Krispy Kreme doughnuts, compliments of Jeremy Liebman. This event was available via webinar to our attorneys outside of Charlotte and throughout the ACC IP Network.
Thank you to our generous sponsor, Kilpatrick Townsend for providing this valuable topic to our members.
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Women's Group Event: Speak and Bespoke
On April 23, 2019, our Women's group along with our sponsor, Parker Poe, enjoyed an evening at Dot, Dot, Dot
which was voted #1 best cocktail bar by the Charlotte Agenda. This hidden gem is
located in the backlot of Park Road. The ladies enjoyed a 3-course small bite menu and cocktail tasting at Charlotte's classic cocktail lounge It was a fabulous evening of networking.
Thank you to our generous sponsor,
Parker Poe, for a great evening.
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ACC Charlotte Annual General Counsel &
Chief Legal Officer's Dinner
On May 16, 2019, we had a spectacular evening of great food, cocktails and conversation at Bentley's on 27! This is an annual event for our General Counsels and Chief Legal Officers where they can enjoy valuable networking with colleagues and a seated dinner.
A big thank you to our generous sponsor, iDS and xIOT
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for making this event possible.
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Did you miss an event? Past presentation materials are available on the ACC Charlotte home page to members only.
Please log in as a member at this LINK.
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| ACC Charlotte Chapter, P.O. Box 2964, Huntersville, NC 28070
704-999-0814, email: [email protected] |
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The contents of this newsletter are intended to convey general information only and not to provide legal advice or opinions. The contents of this newsletter should not be relied upon for, legal or tax advice in any particular circumstance or fact situation. The information presented may not reflect the most current legal developments. No action should be taken in reliance on the information and we disclaim all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all of the contents of this site to the fullest extent permitted by law. An attorney should be contacted for advice on specific legal issues.
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STAY CONNECTED:
Check out our recent and upcoming events and CLE opportunities at:
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