Exhibit
10.15(a)





AMENDMENT
TO THE PAUL S. JABER


CHANGE
IN CONTROL PROTECTIVE AGREEMENT





WHEREAS,Paul S. Jaber(the “Executive”)
entered into a change in control protective agreement with First South Bank (the
“Bank”) and First South Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) effective July 8, 2002
(the “Agreement”); and





WHEREAS,the parties to the
Agreement desire to amend the Agreement to conform with Section 409A of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) and the regulations and
guidance issued with respect to 409A of the Code; and





WHEREAS, Section 9 of the
Agreement provides that the Agreement may be amended or modified at any time by
means of a written instrument signed by the parties.





NOW, THEREFORE,the Bank, the
Company and the Executive agree to amend the Agreement effective December 18,
2008 as follows:





FIRST
CHANGE





Section 4
of the Agreement shall be deleted in its entirety and reserved for future
use.





SECOND
CHANGE





Section 2
of the Agreement shall be amended by adding the following
paragraph:





“In the
event the Employee elects to terminate his employment for Good Reason, he must
notify the Bank or the Company within ninety (90) days after the initial
existence of an event that qualifies as Good Reason and the Bank or the Company
must be given an opportunity, not less than thirty (30) days, to effectuate a
cure for such asserted “Good Reason” by the Employee.”





THIRD
CHANGE





The
following new Section 13 shall be added to the Agreement:





“13.       
SECTION 409A OF THE CODE.




(a)           This
Agreement is intended to comply with the requirements of Section 409A of the
Code, and specifically, with the “short-term deferral exception” under Treasury
Regulation Section 1.409A-1(b)(4) and the “separation pay exception” under
Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-1(b)(9)(iii), and shall in all respects be
administered in accordance with Section 409A of the Code. If any payment or
benefit hereunder cannot be provided or made at the time specified herein
without incurring sanctions on Employee under Section 409A of the Code, then
such payment or benefit shall be provided in full at the earliest time
thereafter when such sanctions will not be imposed. For purposes of Section 409A
of the Code, all payments to be made upon a termination of employment under this
Agreement may only be made upon a “separation from service” (within the meaning
of such term under Section 409A of the Code), each payment made under this
Agreement shall be treated as a separate payment, the right to a series of
installment payments under this Agreement (if any) is to be treated as a right
to a series of separate payments, and if a payment is not made by the designated
payment date under this Agreement, the payment shall be made by December 31 of
the calendar year in which the designated date occurs. To the extent that any
payment provided for hereunder would be subject to additional tax under Section
409A of the Code, or would cause the administration of this Agreement to fail to
satisfy the requirements of Section 409A of the Code, such provision shall be
deemed null and void to the extent permitted by applicable law, and any such
amount shall be payable in accordance with subparagraph (b) of this Agreement
below. In no event shall Employee, directly or indirectly, designate the
calendar year of payment.





(b)           If
when separation from service occurs Employee is a “specified employee” within
the meaning of Section 409A of the Code, and if the cash severance payment under
Section 3 of this Agreement would be considered deferred compensation under
Section 409A of the Code, and, finally, if an exemption from the six-month delay
requirement of Section 409A(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Code is not available (i.e., the
“short-term deferral exception” under Treasury Regulations Section
1.409A-1(b)(4) or the “separation pay exception” under Treasury Section
1.409A-1(b)(9)(iii)), the Bank or the Company will make the maximum severance
payment possible in order to comply with an exception from the six month
requirement and make any remaining severance payment under Section 3 of this
Agreement to Employee in a single lump sum without interest on the first payroll
date that occurs after the date that is six (6) months after the date on which
Employee separates from service.





(c)           References
in this Agreement to Section 409A of the Code include rules, regulations, and
guidance of general application issued by the Department of the Treasury under
Internal Revenue Section 409A of the Code.”





IN WITNESS WHEREOF,the Bank
has caused this Amendment to be executed by its duly authorized officer, and
Executive has signed this Amendment, on the 18th day of December,
2008





ATTEST:
                      
                      FIRST SOUTH BANK/s/ William L. Wall
                      
                      /s/ Frederick N.
HolscherChairman
      of the BoardATTEST:
                      
                      FIRST SOUTH BANCORP,
      INC./s/ William L. Wall
                      
                      /s/ Frederick N.
HolscherChairman
      of the BoardWITNESS:
                      
                      EXECUTIVE/s/ William L. Wall
                      
                      /s/ Paul S. JaberPaul
      S.
Jaber