newsletter - Hutchens Law Firm

DECEMBER 2014 / January 2015
NEWSLETTER
TM
2014 Recap
SHOUT-OUT!
For 2015, this section of the
newsletter will be designated for
shout-outs. If you want to recognize an employee for something
they do or have done to make the
office environment, community,
or lives of others better, here is
your chance!
The spot will be limited to 1-2
shout-outs per newsletter. I will
make my best attempt to rotate
between the offices. Please send
to [email protected].
The first shout-out of the
year is from Charlotte employee
Darlene Snee and goes out to
co-worker Tracey Vines. Darlene
wants Tracey to be recognized for
her participation in the
Sharing With Shoes event held
in December. Tracey donated 15
pairs of shoes to A Child’s Place,
an organization which works to
erase the impact of homelessness
on children.
Around the same time, she also
collected toys under her Christmas tree at work for the Salvation
Army Angel Tree, a local program
that was actually headed by
Charlotte attorney Bess Harris
Reynolds.
Darlene also added that Tracey
blesses the entire office with
fresh donuts about every other
week!
A lot of exciting things happened over the past year at Hutchens Law Firm! Look below to see some of
our fantastic accomplishments, community service, and successes of 2014!
Giving Back:
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Donated over $115,000 to local organizations
Participated in 4 Cape Fear Valley Blood Drives
Donated 56.5 pounds of left over Halloween candy
to Operation Gratitude
Raised $3,607 for the March of Dimes and participated in the March for Babies
Raised $925 for The V Foundation
Raised money for the Alzheimer’s Association and
participated in the Walk for Alzheimer’s
Donated 702 pounds of food and $730 to local
food banks in all four office locations
Donated household goods and toys to the MBA of
Fayetteville’s Tots for Pots program
Donated toys to Thompsons Child, Family Focus,
and the Salvation Army Angel Tree toy drives
Donated shoes to the Sharing With Shoes event in
Charlotte
Donated clothing items to the homeless community in Fayetteville
Continued the High Performance Giving program
and distributed over 1,500 cards, sparking random
acts of kindness across the country
Other News:
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We now have the Carolinas covered! The firm
opened and office in Columbia, South Carolina
Opened two remote real estate offices in Fayetteville and Southern Pines
7 new attorneys joined the firm
Our attorneys participated on panels and spoke at
over 25 industry related events across the U.S.
The firm sponsored over 45 local events
Awards & Accomplishments:
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USFN Diamond Award of Excellence (Firm)
North Carolina Superlawyers (Terry Hutchens)
North Carolina Rising Stars (Hilton Hutchens)
The Best Lawyers in America (Terry Hutchens)
(Bill Senter)
LAP Chief Justice Service Award (Lanée Borsman)
AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell (Michael Stein)
North Carolina Legal Elite (Chris Foster)
Fayetteville Observer’s 40 under Forty (Chris Foster)
New Appointments/Memberships:
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Board of Trustees of Fayetteville Technical Community College (Hilton Hutchens)
President of Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity (Sarah Miranda)
Board of Directors of the North Carolina State
Bar Lawyer Assistance Program (Lanée Borsman)
Cumberland County Council on Older Adults,
Blast from the Past committee (Deanna Coleman)
Walk to End Alzheimer’s sponsorship chair
(Susan Benoit)
Executive Council of workers compensation section of NCBA (Maggie Bennington)
Secretary/Treasurer of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Fayetteville and Contributor to
the North & South Carolina Mortgage Bankers
Newsletter “Bottom Line” (Ruth Lane)
YMCA
Was your New Year’s resolution to get in shape? Or maybe to
stay in shape? If you are looking
for a new gym membership, visit
the YMCA down the street from
the Fayetteville office on Ramsey
Street. As one of their valued sponsors, they have agreed to waive all
new enrollment fees for Hutchens’
employees. Simply provide proof
of employment when you go in.
THE LATEST & THE GR EATEST
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
WELCOME NEW EMPLOYEES (as of January 26)
CONGRATULATIONS VETERANS
FAYETTEVILLE OFFICE:
(employees with anniversaries in Dec./Jan. who have been at the firm 10+ years)
Brittany Cole - Distribution
Amy Otero - Collections
CHARLOTTE OFFICE:
Sarah Banks - Attorney
Weird North Carolina Law:
Anniversary Years w/firm
Annette Bourgeois
Susie Holloway
Pam Peterson
Felecia Fife
Kim Martuscelli
Paula Register
Keith Vess
Vickie Norris
12/01
12/03
01/26
01/03
01/22
01/07
01/22
01/06
17 years
13 years
17 years
15 years
13 years
13 years
13 years
12 years
Zebulon, NC
It shall be unlawful for any
person to climb or go on the
ladder or any part of any water
tank owned by the Town
without the permission of the
Town Manager or the
Chief of Police.
The Hutchens newsletter can also be found on the intranet under “Announcements”
Please contact Sara Gamache to contribute content - [email protected] | ext. 1511
FEATURED ATTORNEY
Page 2
Charlotte March of Dimes
Bess Harris Reynolds
Bess Harris Reynolds (formally Bess Harris) is an attorney
in the Charlotte office who
focuses her area of practice
in real estate. In this role, she
works closely with mortgage
lenders, Realtors, and homebuyers to ensure that the
purchase of a home happens
seamlessly.
Bess is actively involved in
pro bono work through Hutchens Law Firm. She donates her
time to Habitat for Humanity of
Charlotte, Inc. She provides two
closings a month to new homeowners through the group.
Outside of work, she volunteers
her time as a member and
young visionary at the Bechtler
Museum of Art and the Femfessionals Charlotte group. She is
also active in her local church.
Being raised in a family that
owns a lighting store, Bess admits she has quite an affiliation
to light fixtures. She admits,
if she were not a lawyer, she
would probably be happy being involved with lighting and
lighting design.
FIRM DONATIONS
On January 22, Hutchens Law
Firm donated 12 PCs, monitors,
and various other computer
equipment to Grace Christian
School in Sanford. The equipment
will be used to expand the CEI
lab for special needs/individualized learning students and the
computer lab.
Thank you to Jennifer Trapp
for making the donation arrangement and to the IT department
for facilitating the transfer of
equipment.
In 2014, there were no newsletters printed for the months of May and June because the editor was out on maternity leave. Therefore, the Charlotte office’s participation in the March of Dimes was not recognized. The information is being included in this newsletter to ensure they get the recognition they deserve. On April 26, there were 27 employees from the Charlotte office who participated in the March for Babies, making it their highest level of participation for the event to date. Together the Charlotte team also raised
$874 for the March of Dimes, a dramatic increase from the $357 raised in 2013. Way to go team!
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Terry Hutchens for being named
as a Top 100 Super Lawyer in North Carolina, and Hutch
Hutchens for being named to the 2015 North Carolina
Rising Stars list. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the
lawyers in the state are selected by Super Lawyers to receive the Rising Stars honor.
Terry has been named to the Super Lawyers list nine
times throughout his career and this is Hutch’s 4th consecutive year being named as a Rising Star.*
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers
from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high
degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers,
an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer
reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.
*For membership criteria, please refer to SuperLawyers.com
Congratulations to Chris Foster for being named one of Business
North Carolina magazine’s 2015 Legal Elite in the areas of “Tax/Estate
Planning” and “Young Guns.” The Legal Elite designation is given to
lawyers whose peers believe are the state’s best practitioners in their field.
“Young Guns” are considered the state’s best “up and coming lawyers.”
Foster is among the top three percent of attorneys practicing in North
Carolina named to the Legal Elite. This is Chris’s second time receiving
the Young Guns award!
Since 2002, Business North Carolina (BNC) has honored Tar Heel
lawyers by publishing the Legal Elite, a listing of the state’s top lawyers
across a variety of practice areas. Winners are chosen not by BNC editors but by peer review. This year’s selection was open to the more than
20,000 active members of the N.C. State Bar. Lawyers were not allowed to
vote for themselves and could choose another associate or partner only
if they were with another firm practicing the same category of law. Less
than three percent of the state’s lawyers made the “Legal Elite” this year.
Employee Spotlight
Darlene and a Rainbow Trout
Charlotte employee, Darlene Snee, started working for RTT in 1998 and joined Hutchens Law Firm
during the merger in 2012. Since then, Darlene has
held several positions including being a “runner,”
working in the Bankruptcy department, and being
an assistant to Walt Pettit. Currently Darlene works
in the foreclosure department.
Before starting at Hutchens, Darlene was a mechanic in the Navy and was stationed in Norfolk,
Virginia. During her service she spent 8 months in
Guam working on galley equipment, HVAC units,
and engines on the ships. She loved the beauty of
Guam and said the water was crystal clear for as far
as the eye could see.
When she’s not working, Darlene enjoys fly
fishing with her husband. At least twice each
Spring they travel to Wyoming for a special fishing
adventure. Throughout the Fall, they fish locally on
the Davidson River, in Brevard, NC. Darlene enjoys
fishing because it allows her to spend time with her
husband with no interruptions and she enjoys the
peace and quiet of the outdoors. Since neither of
them eat fish, they release any they catch.
When they aren’t fishing Darlene and her husband stay busy with their 3 cats and 2 dogs. The
two dogs, Roxy and Daisy are Pekingese/Shih Tzu
mixes and two of the cats, Big Ben and Buck are
rescue kittens. The third is a bob-tail named Jasper.