Title: 1) Attorney; 2) North Carolina Representative; 3) Attorney Reviewer
Company: 1) Waterside Legal Services; 2) Futuro Houses; 3) Consilio LLC
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Judy M. Payne, attorney at Waterside Legal Services, North Carolina representative at Futuro Houses and attorney reviewer at Consilio LLC, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Lawyers for dedication, achievements, and leadership in legal services.
Ms. Payne has been an attorney reviewer at Consilio LLC, an international e-discovery, document review and legal consulting corporation aiding various private companies in Silicon Valley since 2019. She is also the North Carolina representative for Futuro Houses, a modernist home builder that engineers futuristic homes produced in Ohio. Likewise, Ms. Payne recently opened her own law firm that specializes in life and legacy planning, Waterside Legal Services.
With over three decades of professional legal experience, Ms. Payne has built a successful career, working on major cases that have garnered significant press coverage. Her previous roles include director of contracts and licensing at Bucky USA in 2019, reviewer at Strategic Legal Solutions in 2015 and subject matter expert in intellectual property at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2009. She was a registered in-house counsel at ILOG from 2008 to 2009, director of contracts management at Ingres from 2007 to 2008, corporate counsel at SEVEN Networks in 2005, and contract negotiator at Advent Software in 2003. Earlier in her career, she held roles as intellectual property counsel at Mobility Network Systems from 2001 to 2003, manager of legal affairs at DigitalPersona from 1999 to 2001, manager of legal services at HQ Network Systems from 1997 to 1999, and law clerk at Jacobsen and Colfin P.C. in 1992, during which time she completed a business internship program in Paris, France.
Ms. Payne has been an active community member for years, serving as a commissioner for the City of Raleigh Arts Commission since 2019. She was appointed as president of the Boylan Heights Neighborhood Association in 2019 and both board adviser and secretary for the NC Industrial Hemp Association from 2016 to 2020. She also volunteers for environmental causes as well as for organizations as Audubon and the Cucalorus Film Festival. Ms. Payne had also contributed on the staff of the All Things Open Conference from 2016 to 2020.
Ms. Payne earned a Bachelor of Arts in French and communication from North Carolina State University in 1986. Coursework at the Institute on International Law in Paris as part of her studies at the University of San Diego School of Law led to a Juris Doctor from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1989, where she participated in a third-year seminar creating the Model Communicative Torts Act. Certified as a notary public in North Carolina between 2016 and 2021, she also obtained a paralegal certificate from North Carolina State University in 2014. She was honored to be selected from over 700 applicants to work for the U.S. Department of Defense on an Obama Administration cybersecurity initiative, focusing on solutions for denial-of-service attacks.
Initially thriving in her field upon moving to San Francisco in 1995, Ms. Payne quickly expanded upon her skill set to handle her various and evolving responsibilities as they arose. Throughout her early career, she refined her firsthand knowledge of licensing law, contract negotiations, mergers and acquisitions, and business transactions, cementing her as a versatile figure in her field. Among the most memorable moments of her career, Ms. Payne proudly recollects her work in the U.S. Department of Defense’s cybersecurity initiative for the Obama Administration, in which she evaluated proposed software licenses alongside the most important voices in cybersecurity, privacy, accounting, and physical security.
Ms. Payne gained a unique global perspective as a flight attendant for Tower Air, traveling to 37 countries in two years, primarily transporting troops. Making flight announcements in French and transporting pilgrims to Mecca for the Hajj allowed her to immerse herself in diverse cultures under rigorous conditions. She attributes her success to her perseverance, resourcefulness, creativity and adaptability, as well as her reputation as an ethical, passionate and hardworking attorney driven by her sense of purpose and loyalty. As she continues her legal career, Ms. Payne plans to complete her certification as an information privacy professional while she remodels her home and seeks a master’s degree in fine arts and film in the immediate future.
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