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Jennifer Lyday Featured on NCBA Website for Receiving 2022 Pro Bono Award for the Bankruptcy Section

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Click here to read the article on the NCBA Website. The NCBA Bankruptcy Section presented its Outstanding Achievement in Pro Bono Award last fall to Jennifer Lyday, a partner at Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC in Winston-Salem.

Jamey Lowdermilk, who serves as co-chair of the section’s Pro Bono Committee along with Tyler Russell, presented the award.

“Jennifer has a long and laudable history contributing pro bono services,” Lowdermilk stated. “For many years, she has helped interpersonal violence victims obtain 50-B protective orders in collaboration with Legal Aid of North Carolina. Jennifer also has served as counsel in Hague Convention cases representing parents whose children have been abducted into the U.S. She also has helped a victim of religious persecution in Burma obtain asylum in the U.S.”

Jennifer Lyday, right, accepts award from Jamey Lowdermilk.

Lyday received the NCBA’s Younger Lawyer Pro Bono Award in 2013 in conjunction with her pro bono involvement in Hague Convention cases.

“Lyday,” Lowdermilk continued, “has an extensive record of pro bono and community service. She has served on the Board of Directors for The Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina since 2016, and facilitated a partnership between her firm and Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Winston-Salem Office for pro bono representation of certain consumer bankruptcy cases.”

“This year,” Lowdermilk added, ”in addition to some of the pro bono representation already described, Jennifer and her colleague, Diana Santos Johnson, led a team of attorneys in assisting the First Church of God of Winston-Salem in avoiding foreclosure and securing a new lender to refinance the loan for their property. First Church of God had been in their worship space for 23 years when they unexpectedly faced the prospect of foreclosure. Jennifer and her team facilitated the Church keeping their home.”

Lyday is a graduate of Wake Forest University and William & Mary School of Law, where she served as Lead Articles Editor for the William & Mary Law Journal. Her previous legal experience includes service as a partner at Waldrep LLP and as an associate at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP (now Womble Bond Dickinson).

Her reaction to receiving this award was a combination of surprise and appreciation.

“Initially, I was very surprised,” Lyday said. “My mentor and partner Tom Waldrep is really good at keeping secrets! After I recovered from my shock, I just felt so honored. I don’t think anyone does pro bono work to win awards, but it certainly felt wonderful to receive the recognition of my peers whom I respect so much.”

Involvement in the section, Lyday added, has enhanced both her practice and membership in the NCBA.

“My involvement in the Bankruptcy Section has allowed me to interact with bankruptcy attorneys across the state of North Carolina with whom I would not normally have the opportunity to interact,” Lyday said. “This has made my practice richer and more fulfilling. It is also the best part of my membership in the NCBA!”

Previous recipients of the Bankruptcy Section’s Outstanding Achievement in Pro Bono Award are:

2015 – Ciara L. Rogers

2016 – Jennifer Bennington

2017 – Matthew Crow

2018 – Michael Martinez

2019 – Lance Martin

2020 – Heather Culp

2021 – Richard Cook

Diana Santos Johnson Recipient of the HNBA 2023 “Top Lawyers Under 40” Award

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Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC Attorney Diana Santos Johnson was recently named a recipient of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) 2023 “Top Lawyers Under 40” Award.

After a rigorous review process, the Awards Committee selected 33 of the best HNBA members from across the country. The HNBA’s “Top Lawyers Under 40” Award celebrates and highlights the accomplishments and contributions of HNBA members who have distinguished themselves in the legal profession. The Award honors lawyers who have demonstrated professional excellence, integrity, leadership, commitment to the Hispanic community, and dedication to improving the legal profession. HNBA Members from all segments of the profession (including private practice, government, public interest, academia, and corporate legal departments) are eligible for the Award.

“The HNBA is pleased to honor 33 of our best young Hispanic lawyers from across the nation, showcasing the exceptional legal talent and leadership that our community has to offer,” said Mariana D. Bravo, HNBA National President. “The award recipients were selected from a number of highly qualified candidates. The overwhelming number of nominees every year illustrates our progress in the areas of law and leadership. Although much work remains to be done, the HNBA will continue to celebrate and highlight our talented lawyers that distinguish themselves.

“On behalf of HNBA/VIA, I want to thank the Awards Committee for their diligent work during this year’s particularly arduous selection process. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the award winners, and hope that as you continue to navigate the trajectory of your career, you will continue to raise your voice and be a driving force for real action and real change. I look forward to celebrating this accomplishment with all of you.”

The awards will be presented during the HNBA/VIA CCC 2023 Top Lawyers Under 40 Reception on Friday, March 10, 2023.

New Executive Committee Installed at Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC

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Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC has formed a new Executive Committee to manage our multi-office law firm, serving clients throughout North Carolina and beyond. The firm, with offices in Winston-Salem and Raleigh, has selected two Managing Partners, Jim Wall and Kevin Sink. They are joined on the Executive Committee by Jim Lanik and Jennifer Lyday.

“I’m honored and thrilled to be a part of this new Executive Committee along with my other colleagues. Our firm has grown tremendously over the last couple of years and this venture gives us a great opportunity to take the legal services we offer our clients to the next level while creating a positive impact on the culture of our growing law firm,” said Kevin Sink.

The Executive Committee oversees the management and operations of the firm, with guidance and direction from the partners.

Attorney Kevin L. Sink Featured in the 2022-2023 Issue of Invest: Raleigh-Durham

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Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC Attorney Kevin L. Sink was interviewed and featured in the 2022-2023 issue of Invest: Raleigh-Durham regarding the legal and professional outlook in the Raleigh-Durham area. WWBB Attorney Jennifer B. Lyday attended the publication launch party with Kevin on Thursday, January 19, at the PNC Arena in Raleigh.

Click here to read the 2022-2023 issue of Invest: Raleigh-Durham.

Invest: Raleigh-Durham is an in-depth review of the key issues facing the economy in the Triangle Region: Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The 200-page publication features in-house analysis, supporting data and statistics, alongside exclusive insights from prominent industry leaders. Unique in their approach, their teams speak with more than 200 top public and private sector leaders from across key economic industries over the course of a six to eight month research period.

Tom Waldrep, Kevin Sink, and John Babcock Receive Prestigious Recognition

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Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC Attorneys Tom Waldrep, Kevin Sink, and John Babcock were recently selected by Business North Carolina Magazine to the 2023 22nd Class of Legal Elite. Since 2002, Business North Carolina Magazine has honored Tar Heel lawyers by publishing Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite, a listing of the state’s top lawyers in business-related categories. Winners are chosen by the state’s lawyers. Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite has become the model for other awards and lists, but it remains unique as the only award that gives every active lawyer in the state the opportunity to participate. Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite includes top lawyers chosen using this statewide ballot.

Congratulations on such a prestigious honor!

Several WWBB Attorneys Receive Prestigious Recognition

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Several of the Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC Attorneys were recently selected to the 2023 North Carolina Super Lawyers or 2023 North Carolina Rising Stars List! Congratulations!

Tom Waldrep: 2023 North Carolina Super Lawyer

Jim Wall: 2023 North Carolina Super Lawyer

Dennis Bailey: 2023 North Carolina Super Lawyer

John Babcock: 2023 North Carolina Super Lawyer

Joe Carruthers: 2023 North Carolina Super Lawyer

Kevin Sink: 2023 North Carolina Super Lawyer

Jennifer Lyday: 2023 North Carolina Super Lawyer

Ciara L. Rogers: 2023 North Carolina Rising Star

John Van Swearingen: 2023 North Carolina Rising Star

NC Medical Board Proposes Position Statement on Licensee Employment With Hospitals, Group Practices and Other Health Systems

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By: James D. Wall, Esq.

The North Carolina Medical Board recently proposed a Position Statement on physician employment with hospitals and other large groups.  A Position Statement is not a law or regulation, but rather the Medical Board’s interpretation of existing laws or regulations that govern the practice of physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners.  Position Statements give practitioners a road map for compliant and ethical practice.  One would disregard a Position Statement at his or her peril.

What’s the Problem?

While the Board is clear to state that the existence of a Position Statement should not be taken as an indication of the Board’s enforcement policies, it only stands to reason that the Board would have, or anticipates having, some concerns about the “shift from licensees practicing in personally owned practices toward licensees practicing while subject to employment and other contractual relationships with hospitals, group practices and other health systems.”  (Proposed Position Statement 9.1.3., Licensee Employment, p.1).

Know The Structure

The Board expects licensees to know the organizational structure of the employer.  I don’t think this means a physician must memorize the org chart of a multi-billion dollar system.  I believe this advice is more elementary.  Physicians are sometimes employed by start-ups or practices that have  relationships with management service organizations (MSOs), and they often conflate the MSO with the managed practice.  With few exceptions, physicians cannot be employed by a lay corporation to deliver professional services on behalf of that lay corporation.  Physicians may, however, be employed by licensed hospitals and HMOs.  With the increase of MSOs, it is important for physicians to know that the MSOs cannot employ physicians to render professional services.  The licensee’s employment agreement should be with the medical practice, and the remuneration should be paid by the medical practice.  The physician should know the difference between the practice and the MSO, and keep the line between the two clear and in focus.

Employment Agreements Are Real

The employment agreement should be consistent with the employment relationship.  The Board provides in the proposed Position Statement, “Employment Agreements are legal documents. Licensees should seek their own legal counsel before signing them.”  The Position Statement also provides that employment agreements should be negotiated in “good faith” and that both parties should engage legal counsel “experienced in physician employment matters.”  It is obvious that I would mention this, analogous to the barber extolling the virtues of a haircut; but I think it is telling us more.  The takeaway to licensees is “do not tell us you did not know what was in your employment agreement, or that you did not understand it.”  Physicians are forewarned.

Know What is Expected of You

Physicians are required to know the policies and protocols of their employers.  The Board will have little tolerance for a physician’s attempt to defend his or her actions because an employer steered the physician away from doing the right thing.  Further, ancillary to this point is the Board expects physicians to associate with ethical employers.  A physician cannot hide behind an employer when taken to task.  In fact, the Position Statement goes so far to say that you need to “Recognize that your obligation to provide care that conforms to the standards of acceptable and prevailing medical practice, or the ethics of the medical profession, may require you to leave a situation that does not allow you to provide such care.”  This is the “Johnny Paycheck[1] option.”  In short, if your employer is making you do something you believe to be short of acceptable and prevailing standards of medical care, the Board expects you to resign.

A Supervisory Role Doesn’t Insulate You

The Position Statement is specific: if your position removes you from direct patient care “such as a medical director or vice president of medical affairs . . . [such a role] does not remove you from professional ethical obligations.”  The Board provides that “patient welfare must take priority in any situation where the interests of licensees and employers conflict.”

Guidance to Employers Is Plentiful

The proposed Position Statement cites the American Medical Association’s “Principles for Physician Employment” AMA H-22.950 which indicates that employed physicians “should be free to exercise their personal and professional judgment in voting, speaking and advocating on any manner regarding patient care interests, the profession, health care in the community and the independent exercise of medical judgment.  Employed physicians should not be deemed in breach of their employment agreements, nor be retaliated against by their employers, for asserting these interests.”

Further, the Position Statement indicates that while physicians typically assign billings to employers, “employed physicians or their chosen representatives should be prospectively involved if the employer negotiates agreements for them for professional fees, capitation or global billing, or shared savings.  Additionally, employed physicians should be informed about the actual payment amount allocated to the professional fee component of the total payment received by the contractual arrangement.”  Position Statement, p. 5.

Conclusion – Patient Welfare is the Guidepost

The Position Statement is replete with references to patient welfare trumping the relationship between the employed physician and his or her employer.  For example, patients should be notified when a physician departs from the practice, and informed of the physician’s new contact information.  Further, the Position Statement cites the AMA “A physician’s paramount responsibility is to his or her patients.”  The AMA recognizes the inherent conflict of interest with the physician’s duty to his or her patients and the duty of loyalty owed to the physician’s employer.  “This divided loyalty can create conflicts of interest, such as financial incentives to over- or under-treat patients, which employed physicians should strive to recognize and address.”  It is clear, however, that the “employer-made-me-do-it” will not be an acceptable defense.

[1] Johnny Paycheck was a popular country music singer in the 70’s whose biggest hit was “Take This Job and Shove It,” a working man’s anthem at the time written by David Allen Coe.

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Jennifer Lyday Presents at the ABI Annual Winter Leadership Conference

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Attorney Jennifer B. Lyday recently attended the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Annual Winter Leadership Conference in sunny Southern California held this year at the La Quinta Resort & Club from December 8th – 10th, 2022.

On December 9, Jennifer participated in a presentation, “Evidentiary Issues in Bankruptcy: Making Your Case,” with the Hon. Christopher M. Lopez, U.S. Bankruptcy Court (S.D. Tex.), Houston; Adine S. Momoh, Stinson LLP, Minneapolis; and Jason N. Zakia, White & Case LLP, Chicago.

The Conference featured topics designed for consumer and business practitioners, as well as financial advisors. As always, the conference provided numerous social and fun events to network and renew friendships with colleagues from around the nation and overseas.

A Pro Bono Experience: Assisting First Church of God in Christ in Stopping the Foreclosure of Their Church 

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By: Diana Santos Johnson

First Church of God in Christ is a thriving church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They have owned their worship space property – which contains a building valued at almost $1 million – for 23 years. Like most commercial real estate owners, First Church had a five-year term on the loan that was secured by their church property. When the term ended in February 2022, the lender was not willing to work with First Church to extend the term or give them additional time to refinance the loan, despite having an excellent payment history and substantial equity in the property.
 

Within a few months of the term due date, the lender filed a foreclosure action in Forsyth County.  First Church initially contacted Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC to explore the possibility of filing bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure action. After determining that bankruptcy would not be the right fit in this situation and would be too costly, attorneys Jennifer Lyday and Diana Johnson, along with the Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC bankruptcy team, decided to assist the church pro bono – without a charge – to delay the foreclosure action long enough for First Church to find another lender to refinance the loan.
 

Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC attorneys also assisted First Church in submitting documents to the new lender and in explaining the new loan terms. Eventually, First Church was able to secure a ten-year term with a new lender and was able to obtain additional funds to replace their existing air conditioning units.
 

Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC also coordinated with attorney Patti Dobbins, of Patti D Dobbins Attorney at Law, PLLC, to do the refinance loan closing pro bono. Attorney Dobbins coordinated a closing date that was flexible for the First Church board, prepared the necessary closing documents, and filed all the necessary paperwork to complete the refinance.  First Church was able to close on the new loan on August 25, 2022. After the new loan closed, the foreclosure action was dismissed, and First Church was no longer at risk of losing their church home of over 20 years. First Church Pastor Bernie Cundiff stated, “Jennifer, Diana, and the team at Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC went the extra mile for us. They helped us every step of the way with excellence, and it was truly ‘The Hand of the Lord’!”
 

Lisa Lash, First Church Secretary, stated, “We have been extremely blessed to have worked with such an extraordinary team! Jennifer and Diana were truly engaged in every phase of the process. Equipped with all the knowledge necessary to complete a case such as ours, they guided us with professionalism and confidence – always there to support us with an eagerness to see us succeed. We will forever be grateful for their diligence, work ethic, and their sincere compassion for our church.”
 

Pro Bono Initiatives at Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC

Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC is committed to serving the most vulnerable in our society with legal, social, and economic issues through pro bono service. The firm regularly provides pro bono representation to individuals and non-profit entities in need. The firm’s attorneys look for opportunities to use their education and experience to be of service to their fellow North Carolinians and take to heart their professional obligations as lawyers to make a difference.
 

About Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC

Attorneys at Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC are experienced in assisting commercial property owners avoid foreclosure, and our team can guide you to the best possible resolution of your business’ financial problems.
 

Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC is a business law firm focused on bankruptcy, commercial transactions, healthcare, commercial real estate, litigation, mediation, education law, and municipal law. Through our highly experienced attorneys, we serve clients with efficiency and expertise, both inside and outside of the courtroom.
 

Our firm employs a different approach – one that is client-centric and encourages a collaborative team culture that is data driven, tech-enabled, and multidisciplinary. We focus on offering solutions to our clients, which involves selecting the right attorneys in our firm to guide your specific business and legal needs. With Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC, you don’t just hire an attorney, you engage the expertise of our entire firm.