The Law is a Jealous Mistress and Requires a Long and Constant Courtship. That's as True Today as It Was when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story Said It in 1829. Imagine What Some of the State's Top Lawyers Would Do Were They to Stray from Their Profession (Cover Story‪)‬

Jealous? Yes. All-consuming? No. That's what those receiving the most votes in this year's Legal Elite balloting say. While acknowledging constant pressure to keep abreast of changes in statutes and precedents, they think it's important to have outside interests. So this year, BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA asked what they would have done had they not chosen the law and how those second guesses might relate to success in their first choice of a career. John B. "Jack" Taylor would have been a high-school science or history teacher who coached football. "I get accused of teaching my clients, which I think is good for them and me," says Taylor, tops in construction law, who practices in Charlotte with Nexsen Pruet LLC. "If they're educated enough to recognize a problem, they'll call me and work it out." He has given dozens of construction-law seminars and published manuals on the topic.