The latest LM news

Put Into Practice January 2024

ARTICLES

A Tribute to Jay Reeves

Jay Reeves has left the building. There will likely be no encores from Jay—at least for North Carolina lawyers. He has followed his personal legend and moved to South Carolina to write the baseball novel that has been stirring in him for years. The good citizens of Newberry will be lucky to have Jay. But we at Lawyers Mutual, as well as Jay’s followers, will sorely miss him. He has been an inspiration to so many of us over the years.

What Do the South Carolina Murdaugh Murders Have to Do with Your Trust Account?

On November 28, 2023, Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to 27 years in South Carolina state prison for the confessed crimes of stealing millions of dollars over the course of a decade from clients, friends, and family. Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife and son in March, a crime in which he maintains his innocence.

Kathy Pope, a consultant with 30-years of experience in helping law firms manage their trust accounts, provides insight into how Murdaugh’s law firm could have prevented these crimes, and offers tips for ethically managing your trust account.

LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

To Buy Or Not To Buy

One of the early jobs I had in my career, I worked for a lawyer who was a terribly smart business owner and as good as anybody I’ve ever known at seeing trends and skating to where the puck is headed. I learned a lot from him, some of it not entirely pleasant to learn, that I’ve carried forward in the years since.

From Startup to Wind Down: FREE Practice Management Services for Insureds

Connect with Erik Mazzone and Camille Stell

Lawyers Mutual is more than a policy. No matter where you are in your law practice journey, our practice advisors are here to help you. From starting your own law firm to managing your practice to planning for retirement, Lawyers Mutual has you covered. LML insureds can work one-on-one with Camille Stell and Erik Mazzone by phone, video or email. As an added benefit of Lawyers Mutual coverage, insureds may have three consultations each with Camille and Erik annually at no cost. Now, that’s LM Value!

More details and to schedule an appointment

NORTH CAROLINA NEWS

New NC Ethics Opinions Related to Practice Management

Brian Oten and Peter Bolac provided their annual update on what is happening at the North Carolina State Bar during their recent Expert Series CLE. In addition to topics such as legal deserts, changes to CLE rules, the new random audit selection process, and much more, they discussed two recently adopted ethics opinions related to billing and handling of aged client files upon sale or closure of a practice.

eCourts Expansion Announced for 2024

The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts (NCAOC) recently announced additional go-live plans for counties transitioning from paper files to Enterprise Justice (Odyssey), which currently serves Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Mecklenburg and Wake counties. Twelve northeastern counties comprising Track 3, as previously announced, will go live on February 5, and 10 counties comprising Track 4 (Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Guilford, Orange, Person, Vance and Warren) will go live on April 29. County groupings have also been provided for Track 5, which will go live this summer, and Track 6, which will go live in the fall.

To learn more about the Odyssey Rollout Plan and view the Odyssey Rollout Map, click here.

LM SPOTLIGHT

LML Fall and Winter CLE Series

01/26/2024 – Virtual, Zoom.

02/02/2024 – Greenville – Holiday Inn. Register here.

02/09/2024 – Wrightsville Beach – Resort Lumina. Register here.

02/16/2024 – Concord – Great Wolf Lodge. Register here.

See more details here.

LM on the Road

• January 27: RELANC Annual Meeting – Beaufort, NC

• February 2: LML CLE and Eastern NC Community Board Meeting – Greenville, NC

• February 8: NCCJCP Professionalism CLE – Wilson, NC

• February 9: LML CLE – Wrightsville Beach, NC

• February 12: Campbell Law School Well-being Presentation – Raleigh, NC

• February 16: LML CLE and Charlotte/Piedmont Community Board Meeting – Concord, NC

• February 22: NCBA Minorities in the Profession 1L Interview Program – Raleigh, NC

• February 22: Mecklenburg County Bar CLE – Charlotte, NC

• February 23: NCLAP Minority Outreach Conference – Raleigh, NC

We look forward to connecting with you in the community.

LM Title Upcoming CLE

Intersection of Family Law and Real Estate

February 20, 12:00-1:00 p.m. – FREE

Parapalooza 2024

March 5 – Leland

April 9 – Concord

Click here for more details and to register.

Avoiding Malpractice Traps

Litigation errors breed the largest number of malpractice claims reported to Lawyers Mutual each year. In recent years, errors arising out of litigation were some of the most numerous of all reported claims.

Download here.

Newly Released! Respect - An Insight to Attorney Compensation Plans, by Brenda Barnes and Camille Stell

This guide to attorney compensation includes:

Compensation formulas
Managing Partner compensation
Compensation carve-outs such as paying non-equity partners
Compensation system biases
Trends in compensation

LEARN MORE and BUY NOW!

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