By Ben Baldwin, NCBA Business Law Section Chair

Hello, fellow Business Law Section members.

I want to pass along three things (two of which are related).

First: An enthusiastic word of gratitude to Ritchie Taylor, who planned and organized (and was also a presenter for) this year’s Business Law Section annual CLE program, which was held last week. Thanks to the pandemic, the program was a deviation from the norm (what isn’t these days, after all?), in that it was of course all online and consisted of a single day program, as opposed to the customary day-and-a-half affair. But the course topics were very much on point for a large percentage of our membership, and the speakers were also high caliber.

Read more

By Ben Baldwin, Chair of the NCBA Business Law Section

Hello, fellow Business Law Section members.

I want to put out a loud and emphatic call for volunteers for two important undertakings of our section.

First, as I had mentioned in my Blog post in July, we are in the process of planning the CLE in conjunction with the section’s annual meeting in February 2021 (which will be held in a virtual/online format). We have had some good success recruiting a few members of the planning committee, but we still need more to help in that effort. Whether or not you have had any experience in planning any CLE, if you are at all inclined to give it a try, we would love to hear from you.

Read more

By Andrew Steffensen, Business Law Section Communications Chair

Dear Members of the Business Law Section:

As many of you are aware, the Business Law Section maintains a blog that allows members of the Section, as well as other contributors, to post articles that might be relevant to the members of the Business Law Section. As we move through the early stages of the 2020-2021 bar year, I would like to encourage all members of the Section to consider contributing content to the Business Law Section blog. The Section’s blog has been very successful, and we hope to continue that success through this bar year.

I would also like to encourage members of the Business Law Section to consider serving on the board of editors for the Section blog. Members of the board of editors are responsible for generating new content and articles for the blog on a rotating basis. Serving on the board of editors is a great opportunity to provide meaningful content to fellow members of the Business Law Section and help further the success of the blog. Please reach out to me directly if you are interested in contributing content to the Business Law Section blog, or if you are interested in serving on the board of editors.

By Andrew Atherton

This article was originally published on the Elder & Special Needs Section blog.

[Editor’s note: We appreciate the substantial contributions of John H. Griffing of Griffing Leazer, PLLC in Gastonia and Kathleen R. Rodberg of McGuire Wood & Bissette in Asheville in preparing this post for timely publication. Please look for a separate post by Kathleen R. Rodberg on guardianship changes shortly.]

[Additional Writer and Editor’s note: When assisting clients with estate planning documents this statute does not alter legal precedent requiring original wet signatures and original wet notarizations on most documents. This blog only focuses on the steps a notary would take in completing a remote video notarization when an original wet signature is required. Please reference the provisions of G.S. 10B-25(e)(1) for direction on remote video notarization when an original wet signature and original wet notarization are not required for the document.]

Attorneys from the Elder and Special Needs Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association in collaboration with NC NAELA, other sections of the North Carolina Bar Association and its leadership, other interested parties, and the North Carolina General Assembly have been working to introduce the legislation that passed on May 2, 2020, and was signed into law by Gov. Cooper on May 4, 2020, authorizing remote notarization, remote witnessing, and execution of health care directives without witnesses during the state of emergency. There were a lot of compromises. Ultimately, we have legislation that will aid you in providing safe assistance to your clients during the COVID-19 public health crisis.

Read more