LAW FIRM OF THE MONTH Noble Law Firm Leveling The Playing Field LAURA NOBLE, MANAGING PARTNER Robert Parrott: Checkmate Owens & Miller: The Stars AlignedCRAIG PETRONELLA IT Cybersecurity and NIST Compliance Expert GIVE US $500 AND YOUR PERMISSION AND WE’LL HACK YOU BEFORE THEY DO. GUARANTEED. Security Risk Assessments & Penetration Testing, Giving You the Peace of Mind Knowing Your Network Security is Safe. Call 877.468.2721 or visit PetronellaTech.com/500 As Seen On TV: Craig and his team made the entire process easy and the results were amazing! - Nathan Forshey, Raleigh Divorce Law Firm Check Your Website For Gaps and Vulnerabilities Check Your Cybersecurity Maturity and Landscape Identify Vulnerabilities Provide a Blueprint For Fixes $500Ken Minniti PRESIDENT & CEO Howard LaGraffe VICE PRESIDENT Caitlin Keniston EDITOR Robert Friedman NC TRIANGLE PUBLISHER Veronica Jauregui ASSISTANT EDITOR Jaqueline Dávila GRAPHIC DESIGN Brian Craig Nam Douglass Peter A. Johnson Craig Petronella CONTRIBUTING EDITORS CONTRIBUTING WRITER Headshots and Corporate David Moore PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE Publisher Attorney at Law Magazine is published by: Target Market Media Publications Inc. Columns authored by local attorneys and feature stories about local attorneys or law firms were solicited by this magazine and paid for but the attorney’s law firm or the attorney. Copyright ©2020, Target Market Media all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is strictly prohibited. Advertising rates on request. Bulk third class (standard) mail. Although every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy of published materials, Attorney at Law Magazine & Target Market Media cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied by authors. Corporate Office : 5828 North 7th Street, Suite 200 Phoenix, AZ 85014 Phone (480) 219-9716 www.tmmpublications.com • info@tmmpublications.com PUBLISHER BOB FRIEDMAN AND WADE SMITH AT THE SCONC 200TH ANNIVERSARY GALA IN OCTOBER. Northern Alabama | Atlanta | Chicago | Dallas | Ft. Lauderdale Jacksonville | Los Angeles | Miami | Minnesota North Carolina Triangle | Ohio | Philadelphia | Phoenix | San Antonio Salt Lake City | Middle Tennessee | Washington D.C. Chapel Hill-based The Noble Law Firm is going through a growth spurt. It recently opened offices in New York City and Charlotte. The firm is celebrating its 10th an- niversary and has grown to seven lawyers and a staff of 17. As you will read in Leveling The Playing Field the firm continues to expand the capabilities of technology to improve the client experience. Some personal injury firms choose to expand by increasing the number of attorneys they employ. In “The Stars Aligned” Kimberly Miller and Will Owens talk about how Raleigh-based Owens & Miller is staying small and growing by upping the size of cases they handle. You’ll also read about Lawyers Mutual’s Mark Scruggs, win- ner of the prestigious McMillan Award, and Robert Parrott, a young attorney who said the practice of law is similar to the game of chess. Legal consultant Peter Johnson has the second part of his se- ries on law firm compensation addressing the thorny issue to issue of how to pay lawyers. The North Carolina Supreme Court celebrated its 200th an- niversary with a gala in October. We’ve got lots of photos in “The Night of 1,000 Judges.” Let’s turn the page on a New Year and this issue of Attorney at Law Magazine NC Triangle. Bob Friedman EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER (703) 868-1272 RFRIEDMAN@ATTORNEYATLAWMAGAZINE.COM ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · NORTH CAROLINA TRIANGLE VOL. 7 NO. 6 4TABLE OF Contents 7 16 10 13 6 Denials, Delays & Disfunction – the Year in Review By Nam Douglass 7 Lawyers Mutual’s Mark Scruggs Receives McMillan Award 9 2020 Outlook – Politics and Business By Patrick H. Yanke, CFP 10 Owens & Miller Personal Injury Law Firm of the Month 13 Robert Parrott Young Attorney Spotlight 14 Your Firm’s 2020 Legal Marketing Plan By Brian Craig 16 The Noble Law Law Firm of the Month 20 Part II The Key Components of a Successful Compensation Plan By Peter A. Johnson, M.Ed., JD 23 Legal Innovators LexisNexis Legal Tech Accelerator Program 24 Law Firm Records Held Hostage in Case Management Software Hack By Craig Petronella SPECIAL SECTIONS 21 WCBA Event Spotlight 25 SCONC Event Spotlight 26 Out on the Town 28 Talk of the Town AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 5In 2019, no aspect of our coun- try’s immigration system escaped profound change. The upheaval left children separated from their parents, businesses with- out employees, farmers with crops rotting in the fields, international stu- dents stranded, and refugees living in squalid conditions. No American has been left untouched by immigration policy in 2019. DELAYS BUILD INVISIBLE WALL Processing delays are the bricks in this administration’s construction of an invisible wall – the deliberate process of restricting and slowing the pace of legal immigration. In 2018, United States Citizenship and Immi- gration Services (USCIS) processed benefit applications 19% slower, even though volume decreased 17%. Over the last two years, average wait times have increased 46%, growing the case backlog to over 2.4 million – more than a 100% increase from 2016. H1B VISA HOLDERS DENIALS H1Bs are a minefield of new restric- tive policies resulting in more denials. The denial rate for new H1Bs has risen to 24%, an increase of 14% since 2017. For H1B extensions, the denial rate has jumped from 5% to 12%. In 2020, the administration has signaled its in- tent to rescind work authorization for H1B spouses, further narrow the defi- nition of specialty occupation, and revise the definition of the employer- employee relation- ship creating more barriers for North Carolina’s roughly 19,000 H1B visa holders and their employers. DREAMS DEFERRED Over 700,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipi- ents await the SCOTUS decision on whether the Trump administration lawfully terminated the program. If ended, we stand to lose $5.7 billion in tax revenue. In 2016, North Carolina’s 25,000 DACA recipients paid $63.6M in state and local taxes and filled vital roles. Similarly, Temporary Protected Sta- tus (TPS) provides a lifeline for more than 400,000 nationwide. North Caro- lina is home to more than 15,000 TPS holders who contribute more than $570M to the economy. The current administration terminated TPS for 6 of the 10 countries in the last two years but final implementation has been en- joined pending litigation. In 2019, there was a 13.7% decline in international student applications to business schools in the U.S. It was also the third straight year of decline for new international students in Ameri- can universities. The number of stu- dent visas issued at U.S. consulates de- creased almost 50% between 2014 and 2018. Increased scrutiny on students’ home country ties, shortened visas for Chinese nationals, and increased vet- ting has stranded students from a few weeks to a few months without warn- ing. About 22,000 international students call North Carolina home. They gen- erate more than $722M and support 9,000 jobs. In 2020, the administration looks to revisit the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program that allows students to work in their field post- graduation and limit the time students can spend in the U.S. There is also pending litigation against the adminis- tration regarding how lawful presence is recognized while studying in the U.S. PAY TO PLAY USCIS is proposing fee increases for almost all applications with some almost doubling. Also proposed are new fees for employment-based pe- titions, such as H1Bs, and a change to the premium processing response time from 15 calendar days to 15 busi- ness days. Other changes include new fees for DACA recipients and asylum applicants, and significantly increased fees based on spousal or parent peti- tions. DISFUNCTION FOR THE DISENFRANCHISED No immigrants have experienced greater mayhem than refugees and asylees. Under this administration, the annual number of refugee admis- sions has fallen from 84,994 in 2016 to 22,491 in 2018 with a cap of only 18,000 set for 2020. Suspension of the entire refugee admissions process and executive orders have made resettling refugees almost impossible. In 2018, 65% of all asylum appli- cations were denied and the AG has narrowed the types of qualifying per- secution by referring cases to himself and reversing decades of precedent. The administration also implemented the “remain in Mexico policy” that forces asylees to remain in Mexico for their court date. More than 60,000 migrants camp by the border with- out access to plumbing or electricity, much less legal representation. PROTECT DUE PROCESS Immigration cases are being liti- gated at all levels of the federal courts including the U.S. Supreme Court. Injunctions and temporary restrain- ing orders have been issued to halt numerous administrative actions. It is anticipated that 2020 will bring more of the same. Denials, Delays & Disfunction – the Year in Review NAM DOUGLASS | Immigration Law Nam Douglass, an associate attorney at Gardner Law PLLC, a full-service immigration law firm in downtown Ra- leigh, has significant experience handling complex business immigration cases and working with employees and businesses across the globe. Douglass is also adept at handling family-based petitions and humanitarian visas. For more information contact her at 919-987-2101, nam@gardnerlawpllc.com. http://www.gardnerlawpllc.com. ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · NORTH CAROLINA TRIANGLE VOL. 7 NO. 6 6It would not be a stretch to see a lawyer on a psychiatrist’s couch in the office of Lawyers Mutual’s Mark Scruggs. “I’m a counselor as much as anything else,” said Scruggs. In his role as a Se- nior Claims Counsel at Lawyers Mutual, Scruggs spends a lot of time educating law- yers about the North Carolina State Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct, as well as talking with lawyers who may have run afoul of the rules. For his 18 years as something of a legal therapist, Scruggs received The John B. Mc- Millan Distinguished Service Award from the State Bar on December 3, 2019. “The proudest thing is to think that War- ren Savage, who I respect so much, and the lawyers who wrote letters recommending me for this award who I respect so much, thought enough of me to recommend me for this award,” said Scruggs. BEING A GOOD ADVOCATE A native of Richmond, Scruggs graduated from Bluefield College with a Bachelor of Arts in history. He spent six years as a claims ad- juster for Aetna Life & Casualty Insurance Company before earning his Juris Doctor from Campbell Law School in 1986. For 14 years, he was a partner with Spears, Barnes, Baker, Wainio & Scruggs, LLP, in Durham, handling insurance defense litigation. Scruggs joined Lawyers Mutual in 2001. He is a member of a seven-person team at Lawyers Mutual that fans out across the state teaching law students, lawyers who recently passed the bar and more experienced lawyers about the State Bar’s ethics rules and how to practice law malpractice-free “I think young lawyers, particularly need to be schooled on how to be a good advocate without being a difficult person, how to be a passionate advocate and still be civil to your opponent. They need to learn to be respectful of their clients and to let the client make the decisions the client has the right to make in the case. In every case, the lawyer gets to make certain decisions and the client gets to make others, such as decisions about the goals and objectives of the case (with the lawyer’s coun- sel, of course). Lawyers need to understand the difference.” Scruggs served for several years as a mem- ber of the NCBA’s Transitioning Lawyers Commission. Helping baby boomers who want to retire, sell or transition their firms is a high priority for Lawyers Mutual and the NCBA. “We’re looking at how does a lawyer safely transition out of a law practice?” said Scruggs. “How does a lawyer prepare a suc- cession plan, so their exit goes smoothly for them and their firm? How do they transition to a new life where all they’ve ever known be- fore was being a lawyer?” Not long after he joined Lawyers Mutual, Scruggs attended a State Bar Ethics Commit- tee meeting. “I was absolutely amazed by that big group of lawyers who were very thought- fully addressing proposed ethics opinions that were going to govern the profession for years to come.” It led to Scruggs becoming involved with several State Bar committees. “My job led me into a lot of areas and op- portunities to teach lawyers and to counsel lawyers,” said Scruggs. WE’RE BEHIND YOU “Lawyers call when they’ve made a mistake and sometimes you can tell they are absolute- ly climbing the walls and beating themselves up,” said Scruggs. “Sometimes I do think its nice to say, okay, wait a minute, I’ve seen a lot of stuff this week and yours ain’t nearly as bad as some of the other stuff I’ve seen, so let’s put this in per- spective,” he said with a laugh. “And oh, by the way, I think we can fix this. So, let’s talk about how we do that and if we can’t fix it, I just say, ‘look, we’re behind you, we’ve got your back on this.” “I’ve had so many lawyers say, ‘After we hung up, I knew it wasn’t the end of the road, but I sure felt better than when I called 10 minutes ago.’” LAWYERS MUTUAL’S MARK SCRUGGS RECEIVES MCMILLAN AWARD WRITTEN BY BOB FRIEDMAN LAWYERS MUTUAL’S WARREN SAVAGE AND MARK SCRUGGS AND THE MCMILLAN AWARD. AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 7GROW YOUR FIRM LegalScapes specializes in SEO for successful law firms and attorneys who are looking to grow their firm to the next level. Is that you? Call us today at 919-825-1050 or email hello@legalscapes.com to start the conversation.This year promises to be one to remember. Will a record late- cycle economic expansion continue? What will be the result of Brexit on overseas markets? Will trade tensions increase or ease? Will there be increased investment volatil- ity in the buildup to the election? We should talk about it. POLITICS Let’s start with the elephant in the room… there is going to be a very contentious election this year. By all measures, American politics is as po- larized as it has ever been. The House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment on President Trump. Regardless of the outcome, political maneuvering will continue through November. This will likely have reper- cussions in the financial markets as increased short-term volatility. Looking back at prior election years, we see increased investment volatility. Markets generally don’t like uncertainty. In the last presidential election, markets were quiet when it appeared Hillary Clinton would win. They reacted poorly when the expec- tation changed as exit polls showed a surprising outcome. They quieted again when it was clear there would be a winner. The worst outcome would have been a reprise of the 2000 election where the outcome was un- known for weeks following election day. Expect greater volatility in a closely-contested election. Overseas, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party won a large majority in Parliament. This convincing win gives him a clear path to secure a Brexit deal and nego- tiate a new relationship with the Eu- ropean Union (source: Reuters). The outlook for the Euro in a post-Brexit Europe isn’t positive at the moment. THE ECONOMY The outlook for 2020 is for slower growth than last year but the econ- omy is expected to avoid recession. Consumers (driver for over 2/3 of economic activity) are strong. Recent measures of job growth were far bet- ter than expected. This is a two-edged sword for the economic outlook… more jobs means more consumers participating in the economy. The lower unemployment rate gives the employee greater pricing power and that may drive pressure for higher in- flation. The Federal Reserve forecasts a steady Fed Funds Rate in 2020. All of this points to a fairly stable economic outlook with predicted slowing of economic growth to around 2%/yr… but not a forecast for recession. TRADE WARS As I write this article, it appears there could be a phase one agreement between the US and China. That is good news for the economy and the markets. The overall situation is that the current world superpower is fig- uring out its relationship with a rising world superpower. It will take decades for the full scope of the relationship to be realized. In the meantime, a first phase shows positive momentum and that is good for the global economic outlook. This won’t end the trade war, though. It’s only the beginning. President Trump has identified the European Union as another tar- get where the US hasn’t gotten a fair shake. He will probably turn his atten- tion to Europe before the ink is dry on the deal with China. This should ben- efit the US economy in the long-term but, like the situation with China, the short-term could be volatile. The U.S. House of Representatives has reached a bipartisan “agreement in principle” to move forward with the USMCA trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. The successor to NAFTA portends good things for auto manufacturing, steel, and agri- culture. FINANCIAL MARKETS Even though the outlook for the economy is fairly stable, that doesn’t necessarily translate to the financial markets. Long-term appreciation is driven by economic fundamentals. The short-term is driven by emo- tions; greed and fear. Expect greater investment volatility as sensational headlines broadcast political division, trade wars, and the usual natural di- sasters. The equity markets are at all-time highs and interest rates remain at historic lows. Going forward, both of these areas reverting to their long- term mean valuations may dampen returns. Investors should remain di- versified and patient. Future returns may be more muted than immediate history. The future is the great unknown. We can forecast outcomes based on history and experience but the only way to view it is in hindsight. Make sure to focus on the long-term in peri- ods of short-term uncertainty and don’t react emo- tionally to market movements. PATRICK H. YANKE, CFP® | Financial Patrick Yanke is a Raleigh-based financial advisor. Opinions expressed here are mine and not necessarily those of RJFS. The information is not a complete summary or statement of all available data necessary for making an invest- ment decision and does not constitute a recommendation. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy or asset allocation selected. www.yankefinancial.com. 2020 Outlook – Politics and Business AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 9Next >