The North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys (NCADA) held its Virtual 43rd Annual Meeting the week of June 9-12, 2020, in Asheville, NC, swearing in a new slate of Officers and Directors at the close of the meeting.
Allen C. Smith assumes the position of President. Smith is a partner with Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garafalo, LLP in Charlotte. He is the leader of the Trucking and Transportation Practice Group and devotes much of his time to defending serious personal injury and wrongful death claims associated with truck accidents and major vehicle negligence. He also defends product liability, construction defect, and premises liability claims. Smith obtained his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1992. He previously served a three-year term on the Board of Directors and one year as Secretary.
F. Lach Zemp is immediate Past President of the Association. Zemp, a partner of Roberts & Stevens, P.A., has over 25 years of experience trying cases and representing a variety of professional, outdoor-recreation, industry, and business interests in state and federal courts. He obtained his J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center in 1990.
Sara R. Lincoln is President-Elect. Lincoln is a partner with Lincoln Derr, PLLC in Charlotte. She has an active trial practice ranging from medical malpractice defense to complex business litigation. Lincoln obtained her J.D. in 1993 from the University of Akron School of Law, magna cum laude. She has previously served a three-year term on the Board of Directors , and was chair of the Association’s Women Litigators Committee and the Medical Malpractice Group.
Lincoln was instrumental in securing engaging and informative content and speakers for NCADA’s first Virtual Annual Meeting, including Michael Reddington of InQuasive and Jennifer Schenk, the Physician Counsel. Other panelists and speakers discussed and shared what made their defense practices successful. The change from a traditional in-person annual meeting to a virtual meeting was a challenge Sara met head-on, ensuring the meeting and the transition were successful and seamless.
Ashley K. Brathwaite was elected Executive Vice President. Brathwaite practices with Ellis & Winters, LLP. Her practice is divided between the representation of health care providers, product manufacturers and distributors, and others facing allegations of liability for a catastrophic personal injury. She obtained her J.D. from Campbell University School of Law in 2005. Brathwaite has served on the Board since 2015 and previously chaired and co-chaired the Women Litigators Committee.
JD Keister was elected Treasurer. Keister Practices with McAngus Goudelock & Courie, LLP in their Raleigh office. He routinely engages in the representation of parties in construction, professional liability, coverage and bad faith, real estate litigation, catastrophic loss, transportation and automobile litigation and commercial litigation, as well as first party defense for insurance carriers. JD’s construction practice includes the representation of contractors, subcontractors, designers, developers and their insurance companies. His professional liability experience includes the regular representation of architects and engineers, attorneys, real estate brokers and agents, insurance brokers and matters that stem from director and officer liability. JD obtained his juris doctorate from Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law (JD). He also serves as NCADA’s Chair of the Construction CLE Committee.
Chris Kiger was re-elected Secretary. Chris practices with Smith Anderson, LLP. His focus is in the areas of products liability, mass tort, and commercial litigation. He has significant experience representing manufacturers, insurers, and other corporate clients in both state and federal courts, as well as in multi-district litigation. He has successfully handled the defense of litigation involving a broad array of automotive, industrial, consumer, and medical products.
The NCADA welcomed the following new members to the Board of Directors to serve a three-year term ending in 2022:
About the NCADA: North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys (NCADA) is a professional organization of nearly 800 attorneys and paralegals who devote a majority of their time representing the interests of business and individuals in civil litigation. For more information about the NCADA, please contact (919)239-4463 or visit www.ncada.org.
NCADA is pleased to announce the recipients for the J. Robert Elster Award for Professional Excellence and the Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy for 2020.
Patricia P. Shields is this year’s recipient of the J. Robert Elster Award for Professional Excellence, which recognizes contributions to the organized Bar as a whole and to their community. Shields is a partner with Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, LLP practicing in the firm’s Raleigh office. Shields has earned a reputation as a highly-experienced trial attorney who represents her clients with the highest level of competence and skill, honors the system of justice through outstanding preparation and the keenest of intellects, and maintains professional and courteous behavior toward all. Her litigation practice includes complex commercial, malpractice and professional responsibility, products liability, and civil rights claims.
David N. Allen will receive this year’s Award for Trial Advocacy and is the third recipient of this Award recognizing members who are eminently qualified to advocate for clients in state and federal courtrooms. Recipients of this Award are considered by the NCADA as among the finest trial lawyers in the state. Allen is a partner with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough practicing in the firm’s Charlotte office. Allen represents a broad variety of clients in his trial practice. He has been trying lawsuits for more than 30 years with close to 100 juries empaneled during that time. Allen is a recognized leader for his outstanding commitment and contributions to trial and appellate advocacy – a true courtroom lawyer.
The Awards will presented at a later date this year. Please join us in congratulating Patricia Shields and David Allen as we recognize both as leaders in the NCADA and the civil trial bar.
For the past week, we’ve been home with our families trying to absorb and explain the graphically violent and inexplicable death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer while other officers stood by. Whether locally, nationally, or internationally, the resulting expressions of horror, anger, despair, and anguish have been real, genuine, and strong. The acts of the former police officers with the Minneapolis Police Department require universal condemnation. These issues demand the attention of all of us, and that we not remain silent in the face of such horrific conduct and acts.
The NCADA recognizes and embraces our place as a role model in the legal community. We are proud of our history of inclusion of all members of the civil defense community, regardless of race, gender identification, religion, sexual orientation, skin color, or ethnicity. The diversity of our members and our profession is at the heart of what makes the NCADA the wonderful organization it is. Supporting and embracing that diversity benefits all of us. And although we don’t always understand what other people are feeling or experiencing, we as individuals should always seek a way to try. The NCADA denounces implicit bias, sexism, homophobia, and racism in all forms. The NCADA also supports peaceful protests and the rule of law; these are important rights in civilized society. We encourage our members to begin the sometimes difficult conversation of our how we can each work to improve our society as a whole.
Please consider what you, your colleagues, and your firm can do to further a positive and constructive dialog.
Sincerely,
F. Lach Zemp, Jr. President, 2019-2020
The Special Appellate Candidates' Issue of The Resource is now available! Please visit the link below to read up on all the candidates running for North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
2020 Appellate Issue of The Resource
The North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys (“NCADA”) will hold a Judicial Candidates' Forum on Friday, June 12, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. via Zoom. The Forum will feature judicial candidates running in statewide elections for seats on the North Carolina Supreme Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The appellate races are statewide races that impact all citizens of North Carolina.
Sixteen candidates seek election for eight open appellate level judicial seats - three seats on the North Carolina Supreme Court and five seats on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. A special appellate candidates publication providing information about each candidate may be found here.
This year's Judicial Candidates' Forum will be held virtually via Zoom closing out the 43rd Annual Meeting.
The Forum gives members of the public and the bar a rare opportunity to learn about the candidates who wish to serve the state at the appellate court level. Each candidate will have the opportunity to answer a question germane to the members of the civil defense trial bar and to briefly discuss his or her qualifications for the position.
The NCADA is a statewide association of lawyers defending the interests of individuals and businesses in North Carolina. For more information about the NCADA or the Judicial Candidates' Forum, please contact the Association office at 919-239-4463 or lynettepitt@ncada.org.
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Lynette asked if I would provide a brief update on what is happening at DRI during these trying times, and I am happy to do so. First, we hope you, your families, and your colleagues are all healthy and safe. I have found a need to reach out and virtually touch someone on a regular basis. I hope you are all staying in touch with your friends and colleagues, and it need not be by Zoom. Make a point to reach out to someone, you both will feel better for doing so. And, as far as staying connected goes, although many DRI seminars were and will be canceled, most substantive law committees are actively putting on webinars or hosting calls by Zoom or otherwise. This is a great time to get involved. If you are unsure if your favorite seminar is cancelled, the DRI home page https://dri.org has a link to a list of all cancellations. If your favorite one is not on there, check back for updates. Notwithstanding the cancellations, DRI has been putting on webinars for members and non-members. For example, DRI recently hosted two webinars on how to reopen your office, which identified some of the issues you may need to confront as we begin to resume our more normal lives. Both were free, and if they are not already on the DRI website, they should be soon. In addition, a third webinar is coming the first week of June, hopefully. As soon as we know more, we will push it out to Lynette for distribution. These have been available for both members and non-members. I realize the notice sometimes has been a bit short, but to get content out timely, short notice will likely be the norm not only about COVID-19, but also for new webinars. The pandemic has shown that technology is easier to use than we thought, so we hope to get cutting-edge information to you while it is still cutting edge. In addition, the DRI home page has a coronavirus information link. It includes health information, stay at home orders, and some court information. It also has a direct link to DRI for Life. It should have tips on how to stay sane, or how to try to stay sane, while we juggle, dogs, cats, hamsters, goldfish, children, as well as clients. Next, as many of you know, John Kouris, DRI's long-time executive director, recently stepped down. After a nationwide search, DRI has hired Dean Martinez as the new Chief Executive Officer. Dean started Monday, April 27. What a time to start, right? Dean is energetic and full of new ideas to increase the value of a DRI membership. I hope you get to meet him at the next DRI in-person event. DRI service projects continued during the pandemic with a virtual 5-K through DRI Cares. In this time of crisis, many food banks have been wiped out. What better time to have a food drive, fund-raising challenge, or other fund raiser for food banks or similar deserving organizations. The NCADA Annual Meeting is around the corner. Lynette would have my hide if I did not encourage you to attend, so ATTEND. Speaking of annual meetings, I would be remiss if I did not mention the Summit, formerly known as the DRI annual meeting. It remains scheduled for October 21-24 in Washington, DC, and we remain hopeful that we can pull this off. If it happens, we will have a regional dinner, cocktails and mocktails, and hope you can attend. Please be safe, Jon Berkelhammer
Message to Members: 43rd Annual Meeting Cancellation Notice
From: Lach Zemp, President, and Sara Lincoln Sara Lincoln, Executive Vice President
With a heavy heart we are letting you know that the NCADA Officers and Board of Directors have made the decision to forego a gathering of our members in person for our Annual Meeting and Spring program due to the health and financial impacts of COVID19. While we are confident that the event would have been wildly successful and enjoyed by all, our primary focus is on the health, safety, and wellbeing of our members. As North Carolina and the entire United States struggles through this transition, we were faced with a lot of uncertainty that prevented us from confidently moving forward with this live and in-person program.
Keeping in mind that our focus is on you, our members, we are planning a virtual Annual Meeting and Summer Program. In addition to valuable CLE and the opportunity to interact with your fellow NCADA members, we are planning to proceed with the judicial candidates forum, having the candidates speak to us virtually. We are working on a stellar plan to bring us all together virtually in June. The format we are working on will offer flexibility to attend great CLE while still being able to balance the other demands of life in this “new normal.” This programming will include a virtual Annual Meeting where the new slate of Officers and Directors will be voted upon. We hope that you will participate in this virtual programming and will provide registration details in the near future.
If you did already register for our program here are some details on how the cancellation will be addressed:
As social distancing restrictions ease and group gathering sizes are lifted we will be looking for ways to renew our personal relationships and connections with each other. We continue to move forward in planning our annual Fall Seminar on Friday, October 2nd, in Greensboro where we will be at the Sheraton Koury Center. We are hopeful that this program will move forward as currently structured.
Our Annual Meeting and other programming offer exceptional opportunities for personal and professional relationship building and networking, professional development, and R&R time for you and your families. We hope you will continue to explore opportunities to network online with fellow members from across the state at upcoming virtual events. And we will see you in person – maybe 6 feet apart - in the near future.
On Friday, April 17th, NC Association of Defense Attorneys and NC Advocates for Justice hosted a joint webinar "All Hands on Deck" led by J.D. Keister and John McCabe. This discussion featured Judge Paul Ridgeway, Kellie Myers and Ray Owens.
A sample Stipulation Governing the Conducting of Depositions was created and available for your use. Please click the link above to download.
If you miss the webinar, watch here via the NCAJ's vimeo portal: All Hands on Deck: Working Together with Creativity and Civility During Uncertain Times.
To: Members of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice
From: F. Lachicotte Zemp Jr., president of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys and Vernon Sumwalt, president of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice
As we seek to continue our work on behalf of our clients during these unprecedented and uncertain times, let’s remember that we have the opportunity and the duty to exemplify professionalism and embody civility even when, or perhaps especially when, facing extraordinary circumstances.
Providing our clients with the representation they deserve in the days and weeks ahead will require us to adapt in a number of ways. We have already begun to employ technological solutions that will help to keep our cases moving forward.
In light of recent orders from Chief Justice Beasley and Gov. Cooper, many of us are working cooperatively and professionally to accommodate some of the uncertainties around scheduling, deadlines, hearings, and trials. Working together will not only help to keep the justice system moving forward, but ultimately will benefit our clients in getting our cases managed and handled professionally and as expediently as current circumstances allow.
Once we are beyond the present crisis, we will want to be able to look back with pride on how we treated one another. We will also want to be able to demonstrate to the courts that we each did our part to help support the judicial system and the integrity of the process.
We hope your circle of family and friends remain healthy and well.
F. Lachicotte Zemp Jr. NCADA President
Vernon Sumwalt NCAJ President
Print Letter
Thanks to Lawyers Mutual for these great updates.
Beware of Rats! Disruption During Pandemic Brings Out the Fraudsters! Practical Tips for Avoiding Malpractice During COVID-19 Pandemic
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DRI Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Links for Up-to-Date Court Information Chief Justice Beasley's Emergency Order National Federal Court Update Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Update US District Court Eastern District of NC US District Court Middle District of NC US District Court of Western District of NC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What the Filing Deadline Extension Means for Your Practice Chief Justice Cheri Beasley issued an updated emergency order that “all pleadings, motions, notices, and other documents and papers that were or are due to be filed in any county of this state on or after 16 March 2020 and before the close of business on 17 April 2020 in civil actions, criminal actions, estates, and special proceedings shall be deemed to be timely filed if they are filed before the close of business on 17 April 2020.” How does the emergency order impact my practice? Thanks to Warren Savage of Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company for this valuable information.
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The Effect of COVID-19 on the Insurance Claims Market Part one At present, the world is currently experiencing unprecedented limitations on import; quarantine, both voluntary and mandatory; business shut down, both enforced and through an abundance of caution; and the cancellation of gatherings, events, and travel. The scope of these limitations is likely to affect almost every commercial enterprise, both directly and indirectly. read more.... The Effect of COVID-19 on Time Element Claims Part two As part of the continued discussion regarding the effects of COVID-19 on the Insurance Claims Market, we introduce part two of our series, which examines how the pandemic can impact time element claims. read more...Thanks to JS Held for this valuable information
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The NC Bar Association has compiled an excellent list of resources to assist you and your firm during the pandemic.
North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys 4441-106 Six Forks Road, #107 Raleigh, NC 27609
Phone: 919-239-4463 admin@ncada.org
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