NCCBI Legal Seminar Series

THOMAS A. FARR - Seminar Leader Partner - Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart Mr. Farr concentrates in employment litigation, occupational safety and health law, and constitution and election law. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and is A-V rated by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. He was named to the inaugural 2002 and 2003 Legal Elite. The Legal Elite is a list of approximately 300 business-related lawyers in North Carolina recognized by their peers, based on ballots sent to 6,000 attorneys across North Carolina. Click this link to read Mr. Farr's Bio
GRETCHEN W. EWALT Partner - Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart Ms. Ewalt is an advocate for employers. She counsels management on employee discipline and discharge decisions and advises them on drafting employment policies and procedures. Ms. Ewalt defends employers against allegations of race, age, gender, sexual harassment, national origin, and disability claims pending in state and federal court. Ms. Ewalt also assists employers in preparing affirmative action plans and in complying with affirmative action regulations. Click this link to read Ms. Ewalt's Bio
BRIAN D. BLACK Associate - Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart Mr.Black practices primarily in the field of employee benefits law. He assists employers in establishing and administering employee benefit plans, including pension and welfare plans. Mr. Black's experience includes drafting and revising plan documents for defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans, as well as a variety of welfare benefit plans, including group health plans. He advises clients in the private (including both for-profit and not-for-profit entities) and public sectors. He assists clients in complying with federal and state laws applicable to their plans, including ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, the Internal Revenue Code, and the Public Health Service Act. Mr. Black represents employers, fiduciaries, insurers, and third party administrators in employee plan-related litigation in federal and state courts. Click this link to read Mr. Black's Bio
STEPHEN D. DELLINGER Member - Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart Mr.Dellinger handles employment-related litigation on behalf of employers before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. His areas of expertise include employment-related litigation, the ADA, the FMLA, and wage and hour matters. Mr.†Dellinger has represented clients in a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, service, healthcare, financial, retail, and food processing. Click this link to read Mr. Dellinger's Bio
JACOB J. MODLA Member - Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart Mr. Modla has since 1990 provided counseling and litigation services to management clients on a wide variety of matters regarding equal employment opportunity, wage and hour matters, and civil rights issues. He has handled litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts on numerous issues, including statutory discrimination claims, wage payment issues, as well as state tort claims (e.g., slander, negligent supervision), and has appeared as counsel before the United States Supreme Court on one occasion. Mr. Modla also has experience serving as lead trial counsel in class-action litigation in federal court. His work in advising and defending employers covers a broad range of federal and state anti discrimination requirements, including Title†VII (sex, race, national origin, and retaliation), the ADEA, the ADA, and affirmative action requirements. Click this link to read Mr. Modla's Bio
Luncheon Speakers
Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. Judge I. Beverly Lake Jr. of Raleigh was elected chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court in November 2000 after serving as an associate justice since 1993. Before that, he was a Special Superior Court judge from 1985 to 1990. He was a deputy state attorney general from 1969 to 1976 and served in the state Senate from 1976-1980. The chief justice graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in history in 1955 and from the law school there in 1960.
Judge Malcolm J. Howard Judge Malcolm J. Howard of Greenville was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina by President Reagan in 1988. Previously, he was in private practice from 1974 to 1988 with the firm of Howard, Browning, Sams, Poole, Hill & Daniel. Judge Howard graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1962 and continued in the Army until 1972. During that time he received his law degree from Wake Forest University. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and received a Purple Heart.
Judge Graham C. Mullen Judge Graham C. Mullen of Charlotte was appointed chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina by President Bush in 1990. Previously, he was in private practice from 1969 to 1990 with the firm of Mullen, Holland, Cooper, Morrow Wilder & Sumner. He served in the Navy from 1962 to 1996. He graduated from Duke University in 1962 and received his law degree there in 1969.
Judge Frank W. Bullock Jr. Judge Frank W. Bullock Jr. of Greensboro was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina by President Reagan in 1982. Previously, he was in private practice with the firm of Douglas, Ravenel, Hardy, Critchfield & Bullock from 1973 to 1982 and with Maupin, Taylor and Ellis from 1964 to 1968. He received a degree in business administration from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1961 and received his law degree there in 1963.
Judge James C. Fox Judge James C. Fox of Wilmington was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina by President Reagan in 1982. He served as chief judge from 1990 to 1997, and assumed senior status on Jan. 31, 2001. Previously, he was in private practice from 1958 to 1982 with Murchison, Fox & Newton. Before that, he was the law clerk for U.S. District Judge Don Gilliam (1958-59) and vice president and general manager of Dillard Paper Co. (1952-54). In addition, Judge Fox served in the U.S. Army Reserve (1951-59) and as the county attorney for New Hanover County (1967-81). He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in business administration in 1950 and received his law degree there in 1957.
Judge James C. Dever III James C. Dever III was appointed a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina on Feb. 9, 2004, upon the recommendation of a bipartisan merit selection panel. Judge Dever received his B.B.A. in 1984 from the University of Notre Dame, which he attended on a ROTC scholarship. He received his juris doctor degree from Duke University in 1987. While at Duke, he was editor of the law journal. After law school, Judge Dever clerked for Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, then served in the Air Force at the Pentagon from 1988 until 1992, attaining the rank of captain. He returned to North Carolina and joined Maupin Taylor in Raleigh. He has taught employment law since 1997 at the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, Campbell University. The appointment as a magistrate judge does not affect Judge Dever�s pending nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District. President Bush nominated Judge Dever to serve as a U.S. District Court judge on May 22, 2002.
Judge Richard Lesley Voorhees Born in Syracuse, N.Y., in 1941, Judge Voorhees attended Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem before receiving his undergraduate degree from Davidson College in 1963 and his law degree from UNC Chapel Hill in 1968. He also served in the Arm in Korea from 1963-65 and later in the Reserves. He joined the Garland and Alala firm in 1968 and became a partner in 1972. He was with the firm through 1980. He became a sole practitioner in 1980 while also teaching at Gaston College. He was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District in 1988. Judge Voorhees is married to Barbara Holway Humphries Voorhees and they have two children.