CLE Schedule

Avoiding the Big, Bad State Bar: How Attorneys Can Stay Out of Trouble
Most lawyers are afraid of the State Bar. This is understandable: the Bar doesn’t exist to throw parades and hand out candy; they disbar people. Moreover, most folks don’t know how the Bar operates or what types of issues get them in serious trouble, including the unauthorized practice of law and trust accounting issues. Let’s remedy that. This CLE will make you less afraid of the North Carolina State Bar by explaining (1) how to avoid being prosecuted for violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct, (2) how the Bar works, and (3) what to do if you are the object of an ethics or misconduct prosecution.

Technology Tips to Power Your Practice
Technology always seems to move fast and this last year has overdelivered on that score. Artificial Intelligence has begun its march into all the familiar technologies that lawyers rely on making this feel like a Brave New World indeed. The presenters in this fast-paced CLE will provide tips to help you understand and harness the technology advances available to lawyers in large firms and small, and along the way help you power up your practice, ratchet down your risk, and crank up your client communication tools. The session will help you keep abreast of the benefits and risks of the dizzying array of technology solutions available for your firm and make sure you are meeting your duty of technology competence under RPC 1.1[8].

Meditation and Mindfulness for Lawyers: Science or Self-Help Snake Oil
Wellness experts and self-help gurus are making extraordinary claims about the potential benefits of meditation and mindfulness. This presentation will define the practices of meditation and mindfulness and explore the differences between the two and take an honest look at the potential benefits. We will examine the neuroscience behind these practices, delving into concepts like neuroplasticity, negativity bias, amygdala hijack, and the parasympathetic nervous system. We will then explore specific mindfulness practices that have the potential to improve your overall well-being and your effectiveness as a lawyer. Mindfulness and meditation are only two wellness practices among many that can be used by lawyers to improve mental and physical health and performance. We will look briefly at how mindfulness can be combined with other wellness practices to optimize resilience and flourishing.

Meet the Speakers

Joshua Walthall - Boerema Blackton, LLP
Joshua is an experienced trial attorney who focuses his practice on representing lawyers, physicians, nurses, dentists, land surveyors, engineers, real estate agents, accountants, and other professionals in legal proceedings before administrative licensing boards. He assists clients in navigating issues related to highly regulated professions, including the unauthorized practice of law and issues before the Board of Law Examiners. Joshua also provides confidential, practical advice to lawyers and law firms facing professional ethics dilemmas, including Bar or criminal investigations, employee theft, unfair competition and business practices, firm dissolutions, and other risk management. Joshua can also audit or investigate trust account records and provide guidance on how to correct trust accounting errors and maintain best practices.

Ketan Soni - Soni Brendle, PLLC
Since 2000, Ketan Soni has represented clients in divorce, equitable distribution, alimony, child custody, child support, domestic violence, and appeals in Charlotte, Raleigh, and the surrounding areas. Ketan practices divorce law to achieve the best possible result with a “big picture” view of each case. After managing one of the largest divorce law firms in North Carolina and then joining a full-service law firm, Ketan decided to start Soni Brendle, PLLC, to bring the same high level of quality and care to clients in a focused way. Ketan is also a North Carolina DRC Certified Family Financial and Superior Court Mediator.

Erik Mazzone - Lawyers Mutual
Erik graduated from Boston College Law School. After graduating, he worked in the litigation department of large corporate law firms in Boston and Raleigh. He then shifted to practice in an innovative, technology-forward family law firm in Raleigh. As an attorney and later as managing shareholder, Erik helped to steer the firm through years of double-digit revenue growth as well as geographic and personnel expansion from one office with four attorneys to three offices with a multi-disciplinary client services team of nearly twenty lawyers, accountants, and mental health professionals.

Will Graebe - Lawyers Mutual
Will Graebe joined Lawyers Mutual in 1998 as Claims Counsel. In 2009, Will became the Vice President of the Claims Department and served in that role until 2019. After a two-year sabbatical, he returned to Lawyers Mutual as Claims Counsel and Relationship Manager. As Claims Counsel, Will focuses primarily on claims related to estates and trusts, business transactions, and real estate matters. In the legal community, he is an active speaker on the CLE circuit focusing on legal ethics and professional wellbeing. Will received his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Stetson University. Prior to joining Lawyers Mutual, Will worked in private practice with Pinna, Johnston & Burwell in Raleigh.