Barbara Weyher is the new president of the N.C. State Bar, the organization that licenses and regulates lawyers.

Weyher, who succeeds John McMillan of Raleigh, is only the second woman to hold the job, according to a news release. 

Weyher is a founding partner of Yates, McLamb & Weyher, a civil defense law firm based in Raleigh. She previously served on the bar's governing council and was chairwoman of a number of committees including the Grievance and Ethics committees.

In a news release, Weyher said she wants to increase the role of women and minorities in governing the organization.

"I have been privileged over the years to be involved with the North Carolina State Bar and have a great respect for the organization and its members," said Weyher. "In the coming year, we will be exploring ways to increase the number of women and minority lawyers on the State Bar Council." 

   Comments (0)

* The state environment agency is investigating whether its employees accepted gifts and meals from Verizon Business, a company that provides electronics to vehicle inspection stations.

Verizon gave the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources documentation of meals and a Carolina Hurricanes hockey ticket the company provided free to five Division of Air Quality employees from 2006 to spring of this year, said DENR spokesman Jamie Kritzer.

Three of the employees implicated still work at the agency, he said. Kritzer said the agency is working to verify the information it received from Verizon.

The State Bureau of Investigation is already investigating the gifts. Verizon Business holds a lucrative no-bid contract with the state. (N&O)

* State Rep. Nick Mackey has denied charges by the N.C. State Bar that he willfully failed to file four years of tax returns on time, saying he was following the advice of his tax preparer.

He also denied that he failed to pay four earlier years of taxes on time, saying he believed all forms had been filed and that monthly payments were being made. In his response posted by the State Bar this morning, Mackey also denied charges that he didn't properly represent a former legal client, and disputed allegations about his former tenure as a Charlotte police officer.

Mackey faces a December hearing before the bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission, which could opt to dismiss the charges or levy a punishment ranging from a warning to disbarment. The bar is the state agency that oversees North Carolina's 26,000 lawyers. (Char-O)

The N.C. State Bar has accused state Rep. Nick Mackey of “criminal acts” for failing to file state and federal income tax returns.

The charges are part of a wide-ranging complaint that could lead to the Charlotte Democrat’s suspension or even disbarment, report Jim Morrill and Gary Wright of The Charlotte Observer.

The 7-page complaint, filed Tuesday, claims Mackey:

- Failed to pay taxes from 2003-2006.

- Failed to let law examiners know about earlier unpaid taxes when he filed to take the state bar exam in 2002.

- Did not tell examiners that, as a Charlotte police officer, he had been investigated for “fabrication” of hourly duty reports.

- Violated professional conduct rules in a case involving a client who had hired him to help with an adoption.

Mackey has 20 days to file an answer to the complaint, which could end up before the bar’s Disciplinary Hearing Commission.

“I’m not going to comment on it since it’s pending,” Mackey said.

A retired Maine reporter filed a grievance with the N.C. State Bar over former Sen. John Edwards' law license.

Ted Cohen, a longtime reporter for the Portland Press Herald who now drives long-haul trucks, filed the complaint in August.

In it, he argued that Edwards' statements to the press about his affair with former campaign staffer Rielle Hunter were "unbecoming" to the legal profession.

"He has brought shame and dishonor to the bar," he wrote.

A spokeswoman for the bar would not confirm the complaint as a matter of policy, but a letter sent to Cohen by Deputy Counsel Jennifer Porter said they would investigate the matter.

Edwards' license was put on inactive status on April 14, 2000. He does not have any public record of disciplinary actions.

More after the jump.

   Comments (0)

"A nonlawyer sitting on the highest court in the land? Is that even allowed?" — Greensboro News-Record columnist Doug Clark

Yes, for the U.S. Supreme Court; no, for the North Carolina one.

Article IV of the North Carolina constitution states that "only persons duly authorized to practice law" in state courts may be eligible to be elected or appointed state judges.

The N.C. Board of Law Examiners determines who can practice law. It requires that students graduate from a law school approved the N.C. State Bar, provide proof of "good moral character" and pass the bar exam, or have practiced law in another state.

"The main requirement is that you have to graduate from an ABA-approved law school," said Tammy Jackson, a spokeswoman for the State Bar.

Article III of the U.S. Constitution, however, states only that judges shall "hold their offices during good behavior."

It does not list any formal educational requirements, although every person nominated to the Court to date has been a lawyer and nearly two-thirds have been judges.

UNC-Chapel Hill law professor Bill Marshall said that Supreme Court justices handle a lot of technical legal issues.

"You don't have to be a lawyer to be a Supreme Court justice, but I think you probably need to be a this point," he said.

Have a question? E-mail dome@newsobserver.com or post a comment below.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan has named lawyers to help her with judicial appointments.

The Greensboro Democrat announced that former U.S. attorney Janice McKenzie Cole, criminal attorney Locke Clifford and N.C. State Bar vice president Anthony di Santi will serve on the panel advising her.

The panel will be led by former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Burley Mitchell.

"I have brought together some of North Carolina's best and brightest, each of whom offers a diverse range of legal expertise, to help me recommend federal nominees that all North Carolinians, regardless of their political affiliation, will be proud of," Hagan said in a statement.

Each is from a different area of the state: Cole lives in Perquimans County, Clifford lives in Greensboro, di Santi in Blowing Rock, and Mitchell in Raleigh. All four are registered Democrats.

The group will make recommendations to Hagan for U.S. attorneys, federal district cout judgeships and appointments to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hagan hopes to end partisan gridlock over the Fourth Circuit.

An attorney for a state workers' group said he will not defend himself today.

As a lawyer for the State Employees Association of North Carolina, Tom Harris proposed dropping a public records lawsuit against state Treasurer Richard Moore if Moore would back a bill SEANC supports.

In a hearing on the suit in Wake County Superior Court today, Harris brought an outside attorney and said he would not talk much about his own actions yet.

"If this case should mushroom into a criminal proceeding or a bar hearing, I would like to defend myself in that context," he said.

However, Harris said he had a different take on SEANC's settlement offer. 

Lawyer Staples Hughes has been cleared of any wrongdoing in revealing a dead clients' confession that he believed could help prove a man innocent of murder.

Hughes said today that the N.C. State Bar cleared him last week after a lengthy investigation about his disclosure. He said the bar dismissed a complaint against him finding no probable cause, Titan Barksdale reports.

Hughes was trying to help prisoner Lee Wayne Hunt, who was convicted of killing a Fayetteville couple 21 years ago, and sentenced to life in prison.

During a hearing to seek a new trial for Hunt, a Cumberland County Superior Court judge warned he would report Hughes to the bar over his testimony about the confession. Hughes testified that his client, Jerry Cashwell, told him that he acted alone in killing the couple.

Hunt, whose case has gained national attention after he appeared on "60 Minutes," is still fighting to prove his innocence. Hughes' testimony was rejected by the judge, and the N.C. Supreme Court recently denied Hunt's request for a review of his case.

Hunt's attorneys are planning to appeal his case to federal court.

The N.C. State Bar defended its turf today as the enforcer of attorney ethics in North Carolina.

Bar attorneys argued at the N.C. Supreme Court that Superior Court judges can't preempt Bar prosecutions against attorneys, reports Titan Barksdale.

Several years ago, Wilson lawyer Willie Gilbert successfully persuaded a Superior Court judge in his home district to block a pending bar prosecution against him.Wilson Superior Court Judge Milton "Toby" Fitch Jr., once a powerful state legislator, prohibited the Bar from prosecuting Gilbert, who claimed the Bar was harassing him.

The Bar appealed Fitch's order to the state Supreme Court.

Superior Court judges and the N.C. State Bar can discipline attorneys for misconduct. The Bar wants the Fitch's order overturned so it can continue with its prosecution against Gilbert.

"When a defendant decides he doesn't like the way things are going, he decides to get the Superior Court to enjoin it," Root Edmonson, an attorney with the N.C. State Bar said today in court. "[Fitch] didn't have jurisdiction."

The case stems from a complaint the Bar filed against Gilbert in 2003. The complaint alleged that Gilbert mishandled clients money.

Gilbert's attorney, Eric Michaux, has been defending him against the Bar for nearly 10 years. Michaux, whose brother is state Rep. Mickey Michaux of Durham, said that the Bar has violated Gilbert's due process during its prosecution of him. 

"Here's an agency that reports to no one," Michaux told the court. "Anyone should have the right to redress, a right to our courts."

Lawyer Staples Hughes was trying to do the right thing when he disclosed information that could help prove a man innocent of murder.

Now it may cost him his law license, Titan Barksdale reports.

Hughes, the state's appellate defender, disclosed earlier this year that his client, a co-defendant in the murder, had confessed 20 years earlier that he alone killed Roland and Lisa Matthews in Fayetteville.

After his client, Jerry Cashwell, died, Hughes spoke up. The confession, coupled with challenges to how bullet evidence was analyzed, could get a new trial for Lee Wayne Hunt, who was convicted of the slayings 21 years ago and sentenced to life in prison.

It also puts Hughes in a fight for his career. (N&O)