Time heals some wounds, apparently.

In 2000, Democrat Mike Easley beat Republican Richard Vinroot in a rough and tumble gubernatorial campaign. They've rarely spoken or even seen each other in the years since, Jim Morrill reports.

But now Easley's son, Michael Jr., is working with his father's erstwhile rival at Vinroot's Charlotte law firm. The younger Easley, a law student at the University of North Carolina, is one of a handful of summer clerks at Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson.

He and Vinroot have hit it off, going to lunch at places such as the Diamond. Vinroot and his wife Judy have even talked about inviting Easley and other clerks to their home for dinner.

"He's a nice young man and his parents are nice people," Vinroot says. "I just happen to have a different political philosophy and we happened to bump into each other running for governor. He won and I lost."

Vinroot didn't want to comment on the Easleys' legal troubles. A federal grand jury in Raleigh is looking into free air trips the former governor took. Prosecutors have also interviewed the Fayetteville car dealer who loaned a 2000 GMC Yukon that was driven by Michael Jr.

Hampton Dellinger is moving into private practice.

The former candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor has joined the recently established office of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson in Chapel Hill.

Dellinger, who previously worked as legal counsel to Gov. Mike Easley, will handle commercial litigation and regulatory issues.

"Hampton worked with our firm years ago when he was in law school, and we've kept in touch ever since," said firm partner Robert Griffin. 

Dellinger joins corporate attorney Jeffrey Hart in the office.