Let’s Get Ready to Rumble! Are you a trivia master? Do you want to support your local bar association? 

Join us for the High Point vs. Greensboro Bar Association Trivia Battle on Thursday, April 2 at Stumble Stilskins, located at 202 West Market Street in Greensboro. Doors
open at 5:30 p.m.  Trivia game begins at 6:00 p.m.

Food and drinks will be provided for your enjoyment.
More importantly, at stake will be the trophy and all bragging rights for the year for the winning Bar Association!  GBA took it home in 2019 and we’re ready to repeat!

The 2019 Trivia Battle Champs

Afi Johnson-Parris

Greensboro attorney Afi Johnson-Parris is pleased to announce the formation of her new firm.  Johnson-Parris Law will serve the needs of Guilford County residents with family law issues ranging from divorce and property division to custody and child support.  Ms. Johnson-Parris also practices collaborative family law, offering “Divorce with Dignity,” where informal, private discussions and conferences are used to settle family issues without going to court. Ms. Johnson-Parris is a Board Certified Specialist in Family Law and has taught at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy Family Law Program since 2017. She currently serves as the chair of the Family Law Section for the North Carolina Bar Association and is a former president of the Greensboro Bar Association. In 2017, Ms. Johnson-Parris was selected as the overall winner for Family Law in Business North Carolina’s “Legal Elite” and inducted into the Hall of Fame. Most recently, she was featured in the 2020 edition of U.S. News and World Report’s Best Lawyers.

Ms. Johnson-Parris is a 2002 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and a published member of its Law Review.   Before law school, she served her country as an officer in the Air Force and earned an MBA.  After law school, Ms. Johnson-Parris began practicing complex civil litigation in Atlanta and relocated to Greensboro in 2007 to practice employment law and civil litigation.

The office of Johnson-Parris Law is located at 101 S. Elm, Suite 235.  The new firm contact information is:    

101 S. Elm Street, Suite 235
Greensboro, NC 27401
Phone:  336-221-3335
Fax:  336-510-2151
ajp@johnsonparrislaw.com         

Save the date for Tuesday, April 21, 2020, the Greensboro Bar Association’s Second Chance Project, in partnership with the North Carolina Justice Center, will be presenting a FREE CLE program for Greensboro Bar Association Members on (1) expunction of criminal records and (2) eliminating traffic court debt to restore driving privileges.

The first part of this CLE will be an overview of changes to North Carolina statutes relating to expunction and will provide training on how to assist a client through the process of getting an eligible criminal charge or conviction expunged.  The second part of this CLE will explain the nature and impact of traffic court debt in Guilford County and identify tools to eliminate debt and restore driving privileges.

The presenter will be Daniel Bowes, Director of the North Carolina Justice Center’s Fair Chance Criminal Justice Project.  Mr. Bowes partners with impacted people, congregations, concerned community members, advocacy organizations, and decision-makers to change local and state policies and practices to make the criminal justice system fairer, from arrest to reentry.

3 Hours of General CLE Credit (approval pending)

CLE program from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

The Community Room
at Guilford Merchants Association/First Point,
225 Commerce Place, Greensboro, NC  27401

Registration information is forthcoming.

Courthouse Update:

As a friendly reminder to all GBA members and attorneys practicing in the Guilford County Courthouse in Greensboro, through the efforts of the Greensboro Bar Association and the leadership of several members, we now have a fully functioning and upgraded attorney lounge on the second floor of the courthouse where you can gather to discuss cases, have coffee, store your lunch, and research on working computers.  We encourage all to use these facilities as a break room or location to congregate during your downtime at the courthouse.

Camille Stell
is President and CEO of Lawyers Mutual Consulting & Services. Continue this conversation by contacting Camille at camille@lawyersmutualnc.com or 800.662.8843.

Though control is an illusion, conquering procrastination allows us to gain a sense of control over our days. While we may not be in control of outcomes, we can control a few moments of the day when we push through our to-do list.

Often the dread of a task uses more time and energy than the task itself. Here are 20 tips to help you avoid procrastination:

1. Do the job you dread the most first.
2. Concentrate on one task at a time.
3. If it takes longer to write the task on a to-do list, then go ahead and do it.
4. Select one task to do that you have been avoiding and Just. Do. It. Then celebrate the win.
5. If you are avoiding the job because you hate one aspect of the job, tackle that part first.
6. If you are avoiding the job because it takes too long to gather the component parts, set up a designated area. For example, you don’t mind sending handwritten notes, but you hate the inefficiency it takes to gather the supplies. Create a correspondence station at your desk with personalized note cards, return address labels, and stamps.
7. Often, we procrastinate because we imagine the job will take longer than it actually does. Keep track of how long you work on the project, so next time you will know what to expect.
8. Use a timer for uninterrupted work. Use the Pomodoro app for 25-minute stretches or your mobile device to set your own pace.
9. Replace your excuses with positive self-talk about the rewards of completing the task.
10. Build your muscle of discipline as you build your physical muscles. If you would hire a coach, join a gym, set a workout schedule, and calendar time for the gym, then consider hiring a productivity coach, commit your goals to paper, set small daily goals, and celebrate wins as they occur.
11. It can be emotionally draining to have undone tasks hanging over you. To enhance your mental health, tackle your to-do list
12. Rather than add an item to your to-do list, say no to a request to do something that is not necessary or does not move your goals forward.
13. Don’t allow perfectionism to prevent you from moving forward. Sometimes good enough is good enough.
14. Don’t allow the fear of making the wrong decision paralyze you. As Yoda says, “Do or do not. There is no try.”
15. According to author, Barbara Kingsolver, “There is no perfect time to write. There’s only now.” This works for writing, but also for other projects that are stuck on your list.
16. Prioritize. You can’t do it all. You can’t read it all. You can’t learn it all.
17. Set your priorities for the day at the end of the prior day or before you start each day’s work. Then, on a sticky note or small note pad, list 3 things that must get done today. Not too many, not too few, find the number that works for you based on real priorities.
18. Use your high-productivity hours for top-priority projects.
19. Do not start the day with email. Take a quick scan if necessary, to make sure there are no true emergencies, then close email down. Managing email is not the same as getting work done. Schedule time in your day to work on email and honor a time limit.
20. Do not overschedule your day. Leave time for creative work or unexpected emergencies.

Conclusion

Marion Wright Edelman, the first African American woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar (in 1965), spent a lifetime providing a voice for poor children, children of color, and children with disabilities. I would imagine she knew a little something about an overloaded to-do list. I’ll leave you with her words for breaking through procrastination:

“Lord, help me to sort out what I should do first, second and third today and to not try to do everything at once and nothing well. Give me the wisdom to delegate what I can and to order the things I can’t delegate, to say no when I need to, and the sense to know when to go home.”

March is the Month to Donate

You Can’t Squeeze Blood from a Turnip . . .

BUT you can donate your blood and time to a person in need.  The GBA is hosting a Blood Drive on March 27, 2020, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Elon University School of Law.  You can schedule an appointment online or you can drop in on March 27, 2020 to donate blood.

As a recipient of donated blood on more than one occasion, I can tell you personally that your blood can save a life.  We hope that you will join us on March 27, 2020.  Please consider what an impact this free gift may make.

I encourage you also to consider giving another free gift – the gift of your time on March 6, 2020, as a 4ALL participating attorney.  Attorney volunteers are especially needed for the 4:00 p.m. – 7:00p.m. slot, while there are opportunities to volunteer throughout the day, from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.  You can register through the following link: https://www.ncbarfoundation.org/our-programs/4all/.

This year, the 4ALL Statewide Service Day will be held at the Volunteer Center of Greensboro, and the address is:

The Volunteer Center of Greensboro, Inc.
1500 Yanceyville Street
Greensboro, NC 27405

Last year, almost 500 attorneys answered almost 10,000 calls in just one day, with over 1,700 calls answered by 88 attorney volunteers in Greensboro.  Please join us this year to provide access to legal services to even more North Carolina residents.  I promise that you will have fun and it will be an experience to remember (and tell stories about) for years to come!

Please consider what you can give in March.  You might get even more in return!

L. Nicole Patino
Law Offices of Fred T. Hamlet
Health and Wellness Committee Co-Chair

Volunteers are needed to serve food to the less fortunate
at the Urban Ministry’s Potter’s House. Shifts are from
9:00 AM to 12:30 PM on the following Sundays:

March 15, 2020       April 19, 2020       May 17, 2020

This is a great opportunity to give back to the community in the company of fellow bar members.

Please email Molly Hilburn-Holte at molly@erlaw-nc.com if you are able to help. Write POTTER’S HOUSE in the subject line.

Eric A. Richardson
President, Greensboro Bar Association

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”  Whether this quote is attributed to Benjamin Franklin or John Clarke, it is clear that its survival signifies the societal value to three sought-after goals: being healthy, being wealthy, and being wise.  In the legal profession, we are no different, but perhaps we attribute differing values to these objectives.  The first of these objectives is the subject of this month’s newsletter: being healthy.

In the quote above, I interpret the order to mean that being healthy is the most important of the three conditions one might strive for.  And the reason is obvious – what good is wealth and wisdom, without health?  This point may be debatable, but how are we, in the Greensboro Bar Association, evaluating, acknowledging, and caring for the individual and collective health of our members?  A 2016 American Bar Association and Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Study found that 28% of licensed, employed lawyers suffer from depression, 19% demonstrate symptoms of anxiety, and 21% qualify as problem drinkers.  These numbers are staggering.  But maybe even worse are the sad and all too common stories of tragic loss that result from unchecked mental health or substance abuse issues.

… what good is wealth and wisdom, without health?

As I sat in a recent monthly calendar call in Guilford County District Court with approximately 60 lawyers, I couldn’t help applying the studies’ statistics to wonder if 17 lawyers in my presence have depression or if 11 have symptoms of anxiety, or if 13 qualify as problem drinkers?  And, further, I shuddered at the idea that someone close to me may be suffering in silence.

Fortunately, with programs such as NC LAP and other resources, attorneys in North Carolina have more opportunities available than ever before to seek help.  In addition, the State Bar requires regular substance abuse and mental health CLE training.  But do we utilize these resources?  Or do we wait until issues reach crisis before considering such options?  I believe it would be a mistake to assume that mental illness and substance abuse are someone else’s issues.  Patrick Krill, the lead author of the ABA study, referred to the findings as an “unsustainable professional culture that’s harming too many people.”  He goes on to argue that the unrelenting pressure to succeed, win, and advance that starts in law school (or even before) puts lawyers at odds with things one should do to support mental health such as rest, exercise, and seeking quality social connections.

Reaching crisis often forces our hand, but I challenge our GBA members to pursue another route to address these concerns and issues: acknowledge our ailments without shame and reach out for help at the first sign of concern.  Knowing these staggering statistics exist, I can’t imagine doing anything more responsible than giving yourself a checkup with your doctor, counselor,
or colleague.  I also believe that our willingness to create environments for sharing, such as support groups, could go a long way in addressing the health needs of our members.  In the end, perhaps the devastating loss of losing a loved one or colleague can be averted by such early intervention.