07/11/2026
I had the pleasure of being invited to present at the NCAJ Summer Conference — a humbling experience, since I spoke on representing immigrant clients immediately after Helen Parsonage, who argued (and won, 7–2) before the Supreme Court of the United States. That fact didn’t come up once in her presentation. She spent her time instead sharing valuable insight from the perspective of an immigration practitioner navigating perilous times.
Helen wasn’t the only remarkable woman presenting that day. My sister (and paralegal!), Mandy Vivelo, gave a presentation on civil litigation from an experienced paralegal’s perspective — and made her brother proud.
As if that weren’t enough, the Workers’ Compensation Section asked me to present on AI in WC practice from an everyday practitioner’s perspective. Cameron Simmons, Dillon Shaw, and I teamed up and thoroughly nerded out.
Esteban Gomez Flores and I watched the World Cup when we weren’t conferencing, and we all enjoyed Wilmington.
Grateful to the North Carolina Advocates for Justice for the opportunity, and to everyone who attended.
