MCB Volunteer Spotlight
July 2012 - Marc S. Gentile
Marc S. Gentile just completed his three-year term as chair of the MCB Grievance Committee after serving four years as a Grievance Committee member. Marc has dedicated a substantial amount of time over the past seven years to the MCB through his service on the Grievance Committee. Marc shares a little about himself and his time on the Grievance Committee in the answers below.
MCB: Current Employer / number of years with current employer?
MG: Mecklenburg County Youth and Family Services, 1.5 years
MCB: Area of Practice / Expertise?
MG: Juvenile law/Litigation
MCB: Law School / Law School Graduation Year?
MG: New England School of Law, 1996
MCB: On which MCB or MBF Committees have you served?
MG: Grievance Committee, 2005-Present; Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, 1998-1999
MCB: Share something with our members that they may not know about the Grievance Committee and the work that goes into it?
MG: I would say two things about this Committee that the Bar should know. First, I am consistently amazed at the dedication and hard work that members of this Committee have put into investigations and reports over my years on the Committee. (For this, I am extremely grateful.) Second, this Committee takes its responsibility very seriously when it comes to allegations being made about a fellow member of the Bar regardless of whether the allegations have merit.
MCB: What is the best advice youve received during your legal career?
MG: To always be unscrupulously honest.
MCB: What advice would you give others?
MG: Do not be afraid to admit that you made a mistake.
MCB: What is the most challenging part of your career?
MG: I have been disappointed, to be honest, with how many different jobs that I have had over the course of my career, but the different experiences have led to my current job which has been a terrific fit and experience for me. So, the most challenging part of my career has been trying to find where I and my skill set, such as it is, fit best.
MCB: What is your favorite part of your current job?
MG: Knowing that every day I have the potential to make a positive difference in a childs life.
MCB: Any other pertinent things you would like to share with the Mecklenburg County Bar and legal community?
MG: First, that while the Bar has doubled in size in the nearly 16 years that Ive been practicing, it has remained, for the most part, very collegial. Second, I am eternally grateful to all of the attorneys with whom I have interacted over the years, even those with whom my experience was not particularly positive, because I have learned something from each experience. Each learning experience has helped me grow and I hope that I am able to pay some of those positive lessons forward to others during the course of my career.