NEWSLETTER - Hutchens Law Firm

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014
NEWSLETTER
2013 Recap
BAKE SALE
Once again, Hutchens Law
Firm employees are coming
together to help a fellow staff
member during a time of need.
On February 18, litigation assistant, Jennifer Trapp donated her
kidney to nine-year-old Evie who
suffers from End Stage Renal Disease. Although the surgery went
well, Jennifer is making a slow
recovery and will be out of work
for the next several weeks.
To help raise money for her living expenses and time away from
work, the firm will be holding a
bake sale on Friday, February 28,
from 10:00-11:00 AM in the first
floor break room.
A lot of exciting things happened over the past year at Hutchens Law Firm! Look below to
see some of our fantastic accomplishments, community contributions, and successes of 2013!
Giving Back:
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Donated over $125,000 to local organizations
Participated in 4 Cape Fear Valley Blood Drives
Donated 48 pounds of left over Halloween candy
to Operation Gratitude
Raised $4,543 for the March of Dimes
Raised $1,120 for The V Foundation
Donated 175 pounds of food to 2nd Harvest Food
Bank and Express Professionals food drive
Raised over $4,400 for two employees who fell ill
Donated clothes and office items with the old
brand(s) to local churches and Operation Christmas Child
Donated $1,000 worth of items to the SECU Family House
Donated household goods and toys to the MBA of
Fayetteville’s Tots for Pots program
Launched the High Performance Giving program
and distributed 3,000 cards, sparking random acts
of kindness across the country
Other News:
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Hutchens, Senter, Kellam & Pettit, P.A. adopted
a new brand name of Hutchens Law Firm and issued notification to all 100 counties in NC
The firm hired an advertising agency to assist in
marketing efforts
The monthly company newsletter was created
5 new attorneys joined the firm
The firm sponsored over 35 local events
Our attorneys participated on panels and spoke at
over 25 industry related events across the U.S.
Awards & Accomplishments:
Bake sale items will include
cupcakes, cookies, cake, and
other specialty desserts. If you
would like to donate baked
goods to the sale please contact
Sara Gamache at sara.gamache@
hskplaw.com.
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In addition to this fundraiser,
the litigation department is
collecting donations for Jennifer
in the form of cash or gift cards.
Donations will be accepted
through March 3, and can be
given to Hutch Hutchens or
Christi King.
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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)
Women of Justice ( Sarah Miranda)
Fayetteville Observer’s Reader’s Choice Award “Best Lawyer” (Joe Vonnegut)
MBA of Fayettevilles Past President Award (Susan Benoit)
Distinguished Paralegal Award (Ruth Lane)
Chief of Staff Award for Excellence in Legal Assistance (Caleb Rogers and his unit)
Legal Elite (Chris Foster)
AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell (Erik Bennington, Lauren Thurmond, Sarah Miranda, Andrew Cogbill)
Appointments
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NCBA Workers’ Compensation Section Council
(Maggie Bennington)
NC State Bar Legal Assistance Program Committee (Lanée Borsman)
North Carolina Economic Development Board
(Terry Hutchens)
NCBA Women in Profession Committee (Sarah Miranda)
NCBA Lawyer on the Line Committee (Natasha Barone)
Salvation Army and Kiwanis Club of Fayetteville
Boards (Chris Foster)
THE LATEST & THE GR EATEST
WELCOME NEW EMPLOYEES
(as of Feb. 21st)
Beverly Hubbard
Dianielle Willis
Naomi Belgrave
Rochel Sanchez
Valerie Knight
Foreclosure
Bankruptcy
Accounting
Foreclosure Billing
Title Searches
CHARLOTTE OFFICE:
Elizabeth Cantrell
Matthew Patterson
Somer Wright
Foreclosure Billing
Title Searches
Assistant to Walt Pettit
If you are working with a
company or organization who asks
to use our company logo you can
direct them to marketing director
Sara Gamache. You can also send
them to our website:
HutchensLawFirm.com where a
downloadable version of the logo
can be found under News & Events
/ Marketing Library.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
CONGRATULATIONS VETERANS
Weird North Carolina Law:
(employees with anniversaries in Jan./Feb. who have been at the firm 10+ years) FAYETTEVILLE OFFICE:
FIRM LOGO
Anniversary Years w/firm
Vickie Norris Kim Martuscelli
Keith Vess
Paula Register
Felicia Fife
Pamela Peterson
Foreclosure
Litigation
Foreclosure
Litigation
Real Estate
Foreclosure
1/6
1/22
1/22
1/7
1/3
1/26
11
12
12
12
14
16
Julia Mulvey
Vickie Pope Debra Milligan
Alice Cain
Terry Hutchens
Foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure
Bankruptcy
Litigation
2/25
2/15
2/1
2/1
2/1
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15
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In the city of Asheville, if you
have to sneeze you better not
do it on a city street! Sneezing
on city streets is illegal.
The Hutchens newsletter can also be found on the intranet under “Announcements”
Please contact Sara Gamache to contribute content - sara.gamache@hskplaw.com | ext. 1511
FEATURED ATTORNEY
Andrew Perry
Andrew Perry joined Hutchens Law firm at the end of 2013
and works out of the Charlotte
office. His areas of practice
include creditor’s rights and
bankruptcy.
Prior to joining Hutchens Law
Firm, Andrew served as a law
clerk for the United States
Bankruptcy Court for the
Eastern District of North Carolina. His background gives him
a unique perspective on the
court’s approach to legal issues.
Andrew is active with
Hutchens’ national bankruptcy
consulting group, which
provides recommendations to
large financial institutions on
individual cases and developing issues in Chapter 11 and
Chapter 13 cases across the
country. Having an impact on
a nationwide level and helping
clients make good decisions is
what Andrew enjoys the most
about this practice.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to attorney
Chris Foster for being chosen by
the Fayetteville Observer as one
of Fayetteville’s “40 Under Forty.”
Each year, The Observer honors 40 of the area’s rising leaders
for their business success and
community impact.
Honorees were nominated by
their peers and selected by a
panel of independent judges.
They are considered dynamic
professionals who have reached
remarkable heights early in their
careers. They also have extensive
records of community service and
giving back to others through
their time, talents and donations.
Page 2
Seen at the Scene
On February 22, Hutchens Law firm hosted the annual firm
quail hunt for clients, attorneys, and managers. The hunt took place
at Wintergreen Hunting Preserve in Blandenboro, NC. There were morning and afternoon hunts, each accommodating two groups of
four hunters. The hunting sessions lasted 2-3 hours, allowing each
group to harvest 15-30 birds.
Each group had their own guide and hunting dogs which were
used to track down the quail. The photo on the top left features
marketing director, Sara Gamache and attorney, Michelle Stinnett
getting ready to take aim at some quail. The bottom photo features
IT manager, Jim Roberts and former Hutchens Law Firm attorney,
Rudolph Singleton with their trophies for the day!
The hunters will convene later in the year to enjoy their harvest
and exchange hunting stories over a quail dinner.
On February 7, some attorneys and staff gathered to enjoy lunch
as they bid farewell to attorney Elizabeth Jackson. Elizabeth joined
the firm in September 2013 and worked in the litigation department. We were sad to see Elizabeth leave, after her husband was
re-stationed at Ft. Campbell, Tennessee. However, we wish her luck
in new endeavors and on the Tennessee Bar exam which she will be
taking in May.
January 31 through February 5, staff at Hutchens Law Firm
brought in warm weather clothing to donate to the homeless in
Fayetteville. We collected several dozen bags of coats, jeans, blankets, hats, gloves, and more!
Roger Pickett and Jim Roberts from the IT department and
Connie Hayward from foreclosure, delivered the clothes and also
helped in a feed-the-homeless effort the evening of the 5th.
The photo on the upper left shows only a portion of the clothes
donated. The interior cab of the truck was filled as well. The photo
on the bottom features Connie Hayward handing out some of the
clothing. Thank you to everyone who helped in this effort! The
clothes were collected and delivered just in time for the snow storm
that hit the following week!
March of Dimes
The firm will be sponsoring two March for Babies events this year, one in Fayetteville on April
12, and one in Charlotte on April 26. Employees
are encouraged to participate in the fun and be a
source of hope for countless families. All you have
to do is go to the website for the event you want to
attend.
If you have participated before, you will use
your old login and password. If you are joining a
team for the first time, you will establish a personal
profile and you can personalize your page with
your own photo and story. Team members who
register online and raise at least $15.00 by Friday,
3/14/2014 will receive a Hutchens limited edition
t-shirt!! Our goal is to collect as much as we can for the
babies, so we would like to see everyone try to raise
$100 or more. The March of Dimes offers incentives
to encourage additional fund raising.
Team Captains will be Linda Smith for Fayetteville and Dena Queen for Charlotte. They will both
be available to help employees get registered, collect donations for bank day and answer questions
as we prepare for the walk. This is a family event, so feel free to bring the
kids. If your spouse, teens or extended family
members would like to join the team and help raise
money, please encourage them to register. This is
a great community service activity if your kids are
looking for one. Fayetteville Event: Charlotte Event:
April 12, 2014
April 26, 2014
Methodist University Uptown Charlotte
5400 Ramsey Street Charlotte, NC 28205
Fayetteville, NC 28311
Fayetteville: www.marchforbabies.org/team/HSB
Charlotte: www.marchforbabies.org/team/t2078537
Employee Spotlight
Ben and his son Lucas
IT Network Engineer, Ben Ruocco, joined the
Charlotte office when we merged with Kellam &
Pettit in 2012. Before becoming an IT guru, Ben
was actually a CAD technician/Graphic Designer
working on marketing materials and GIS mapping
at an environmental engineering and consulting
firm in Charlotte.
When that firm eventually asked him to handle
the IT work as well, Ben agreed and started studying the industry and getting IT certifications. Later,
Ben left that company to do IT work full time at a
local tech firm where Kellam & Pettit was his main
client. He joined Kellam & Pettit in 2008.
When he’s not working on IT matters for
Hutchens Law Firm, Ben enjoys watching sports,
especially soccer, which he played all the way
through high school.
Having three kids, Ben admits he doesn’t get
much“free time,” but when he does, he enjoys
playing guitar and biking at the park along the
Catawba river. He also does some graphic design
and IT work for a few homes and local businesses
as a side-job/hobby.
Ben says most people would describe him as
being a humorous, down-to-earth guy who enjoys
joking around and playing pranks on people.