Olumide Akpata
Coming into the saddle of leadership of Africaâs largest professional body, albeit through a much faulted and criticised election as President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata has wasted no time in assuaging the confidence of Nigerian Lawyers that, he indeed, can deliver on all his electoral promises. Even in the midst of a debilitating global pandemic, he told Onikepo Braithwaite and Jude Igbanoi in a chat that his administration will not have any excuse not to lift the NBA back to its past glory (and more), and ensure the welfare of young Lawyers, amongst many other productive initiatives designed to benefit all members
Lawyer of the Year Colleen Byers focuses on mindfulness, collaboration for success
BY TERI SAYLOR
Colleen Byers, an attorney and mediator with Bell, Davis & Pitt in Winston-Salem, runs her law practice with mindfulness and a spirit of collaboration. Those concepts are woven into the fabric of her DNA, and she shares them with clients and colleagues alike. The idea of helping people is what led her to law in the first place, she says.
Byers was named the 2020 North Carolina Lawyers Weekly’s Lawyer of the Year. Born and raised in San Mateo, California, Byers, 37, attended an all-girls high school, where she made straight A’s and played on the school’s basketball and water polo teams. She remembers growing up in a close-knit, loving family and recalls many fun Saturday evenings spent singing and dancing to music by New Kids on the Block with her sister.
The New Jersey Supreme Court formally declared Thursday that retired lawyers may perform pro bono legal work without having to pay fees or meet educational requirements the way active attorneys must, issuing an order that the chief justice said reminds the retirees that they're "encouraged to volunteer their services."