Tag: Firm News

Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC welcomes Jack O’Neal to our firm as an Associate in our Winston-Salem office. Jack attended the Wake Forest University School of Law, receiving the Dean Suzanne Reynolds Award for the highest grade earned in Appellate Advocacy, serving as a Teaching Assistant for Appellate Advocacy and Professional Development courses, and completing a Practicum Extension with the Winston-Salem Legal Aid Office. We are looking forward to having Jack on our Litigation Team at our firm.

Click here to learn more about Jack.

Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC Attorney Ciara L. Rogers will be speaking at the North Carolina Bar Association, Government and Public Sector Section’s Spring Meeting at the NCBA Bar Center in Cary, North Carolina on April 20, 2023. Her presentation will be “Bankruptcy Basics for Governmental Lawyers.”

Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC recently conducted an extensive audit of our website and implemented software and functionality to ensure that our site complies with all aspects of ADA Accessible compliance according to the WCAG 2.1 AA, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These are the most widely-adopted standards for web accessibility.

But not only are we currently ADA Compliant, our AI software constantly analyzes and monitors our site and ensures accessibility and compliance with 24-hour maintenance scans. Every change or update made on our site will be automatically remediated, so you can be assured that our site is always compliant with the WCAG 2.1 AA.

Recent studies in 2023 have stated that over 90% of all websites do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC, we take ADA Website Compliance very seriously and are committed to making sure that everyone can access and navigate our website with ease, efficiency and effectiveness.

Make sure to interact with the ADA Accessible functionality (via the little stickman figure widget).

Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC Attorney Ciara L. Rogers participated in the “Roadways to the Bench: Who me? A Bankruptcy or Magistrate Judge?” event held at Campbell Law School on April 3, 2023. She was asked to participate in the event because she has served on a Merit Selection Panel that assisted the Fourth Circuit Judicial Council in reviewing and evaluating the applications for appointment as bankruptcy judge.

This second nationwide Roadways to the Bench diversity program was hosted by the federal judiciary, with a particular focus on expanding the pipeline of potential bankruptcy and magistrate judges.

The first Roadways to the Bench event in 2019 was held simultaneously in 19 cities and 16 states across the country and focused primarily, but not exclusively, on the bankruptcy bench. By all accounts, it was a resounding success: ten lawyers who attended that event are now judges!

In 2023, the Roadways to the Bench event was expanded to 38 cities in 27 states and territories. The program began with a live-streamed panel discussion from Washington, D.C., which addressed the multitude of different pathways to the federal bench and the importance of diversity on the bench. Next, there was one to one-and-a-half-hour roundtable discussions in each city, with federal judges, attorneys, and law students discussing pathways to the federal bench and other topics related to being a judge.

March 3, 2023 is Employee Appreciation Day, which reminds each of us how fortunate we are to have a valued team at Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC supporting our firm’s efforts. We are proud to have awesome people on our team who make a difference by putting their best foot forward each and every day and delivering incredible results.

Each attorney has recorded a message as a small and humble token of our appreciation for our team.

Click here to watch the video.

Attorney Jim Lanik will be presenting during a Webinar, “Paperless Office,” along with Lee Ann Pierce, Attorney and Chapter 7 Trustee. The Webinar will be held on February 28, 2023 at 12pm ET and hosted by Stretto.

A paperless office is not just about scanning and shredding. Discover how to become more efficient with paper, reduce waste, and streamline your office processes and procedures.

The need to become paperless is more important than ever due to changes to the Trustee workplace, including Handbook guidance, remote work, and security issues.

Stretto leverages best-in-class technology, along with deep-industry expertise and market insights, to facilitate every aspect of case and deposit management for its bankruptcy clients. As a trusted partner, professionals rely on Stretto to handle processes from start-to-finish so they can focus on more substantive case matters.

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