Former 4th Circuit Chief Judge Shares Secrets with N.C. Department of Justice Attorneys

William W. “Billy” Wilkins, former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and former Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission recently spoke to more than 65 attorneys at the North Carolina Department of Justice.

Wilkins met briefly with N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper before leading a presentation on “Secrets of Effective Communication.”   Wilkins told the group of government lawyers that during his 27 years on the federal bench he learned a lot about the right and the wrong ways to communicate. 

Wilkins shared information that surprised many of the attorneys in attendance.  Wilkins told the lawyers that when making their case in the lower courts, body language is much more important than words and delivery.   “Within a few percentage points, virtually every study about communication finds that body language accounts for about 55% of what a person communicates, while words and delivery combined make up the other 45%,” said Wilkins.

The presentation also included video clips from some of America’s most well-known speakers such as Dr. Martin Luther King and Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton.

Those in attendance reported that they learned much from the presentation that they could use in their courtroom work and that they found Judge Wilkins to be a remarkably engaging speaker

Billy Wilkins leads Nexsen Pruet’s White-Collar Crime, Appellate Advocacy, and Corporate Compliance/Crisis Management practices.  He also serves clients through his work in the firm’s Business Litigation Group. 

Nexsen Pruet, LLC is one of the largest law firms in the Carolinas, with more than 170 attorneys and offices in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Hilton Head, and Myrtle Beach, S.C. as well as Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh, N.C.  Founded in 1945, Nexsen Pruet provides a broad range of legal services to the business community and represents companies and other entities in local, state, national, and international venues.