Save the Date: Upcoming Constitutional Rights & Responsibilities Section Meetings and CLE

By Colin Shive 

Hello, and I hope everyone is doing well during these trying times.

I have recently taken over as Chair of our section and look forward to guiding us through a successful year.

Things will be different with our meetings taking place remotely through the end of this calendar year, but I am hoping we can make the best of it.

Below are dates for our upcoming meetings:

  1. September 17  – noon
  2. November 12  – noon
  3. January 8 –  noon
  4. April 30  – noon

Please also note that Judge Hunter has been planning a CLE for December 3 regarding constitutional litigation in North Carolina. Please mark your calendars for what should be a very informative and enlightening series of panel presentations from practitioners and academics around the state.

I look forward to seeing you all on September 17 for our first meeting of the year.

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Licensing Board Offers Virtual Continuing Education Courses For General Contractors Amid COVID-19

By Jillian C.S. Blanchard

As of January 1, 2020, all general contractors holding a building, residential or unclassified contractor license classification are required to have one of their qualifiers complete eight hours of continuing education on an annual basis in order to renew their license. The continuing education requirement for each new year begins on January 1 and must be completed by November 30. However, the qualifier has a 90-day grace period past November 30 to complete their full eight hours. The failure of a qualifier to complete continuing education requirements before the expiration of the 90-day grace period will result in the invalidation of the contractor entity’s license until continuing education and other licensing requirements have been met.

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A Letter from the Chair

By Andy Tarr 

Dear Members of the Bankruptcy Section:

I am excited to have the privilege of serving as Chair of the Bankruptcy Section during this new North Carolina Bar Association year. A second-generation member of this Section, I have long admired the contributions this Section has made to the practice of bankruptcy law in this state. Many of you have served as role models for me, teaching me strong client advocacy and complex problem solving, while practicing the highest standards of integrity and collegiality. We will continue to promote these high standards among our Section this year.

These are challenging times we face. The Section will have to do things differently this year. But your Section council and committee chairs are ready for these challenges. We already are discussing ways the Section can meet your needs and elevate the profession.

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Checking In: August 18, 2020

Compiled by Jessica Junqueira

Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP (CSH Law) announced that Brandy Cox is now a paralegal in the firm’s Wilmington office. Cox is a North Carolina Bar Certified Paralegal with more than six years of experience in elder law and estates. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies and a minor in psychology and from Cape Fear Community College with an associate’s degree in paralegal technology.

 

Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP (CSH Law) also announced that Laura Dean, a civil litigator, has been promoted to of counsel. Dean, who is based in the firm’s Raleigh office, focuses on professional liability defense, general business disputes, premise and products liability cases, and admiralty and maritime matters. She practices in federal and State courts across North Carolina. She obtained a Juris Doctorate at the University of North Carolina School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from UNC.

 

Rylee Dillard has joined Hall Booth Smith, P.C. (HBS) as an associate attorney in the firm’s Charlotte office. Her practice is focused on medical malpractice, general liability and workers’ compensation. Prior to joining HBS, she practiced at an insurance defense firm located in Charlotte and represented clients in workers’ compensation disputes. Dillard earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with a concentration in politics, philosophy and law from the College of Charleston.

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Greetings and Welcome to the 2020-21 Bar Year

By Jay Teeter

Dear Colleagues:

I hope that this message finds you and yours safe and well.

Thank you for your membership in the NCBA’s Corporate Counsel Section—and also for the opportunity to serve as your Section Chair for the 2020-21 bar year.

While COVID-19 will no doubt present several challenges for our Section this year, I am honored to work alongside an exceptional team of council and committee chairs and members. Together with the NCBA’s dedicated staff, we pledge to continue providing first-rate programs and resources that will be valuable to you and your organizations.

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Tax Consequences of Terminating Whole Life Insurance with Existing Policy Loans

By John G. Hodnette

Whole life insurance, when distinguished from term life insurance, has several qualities that may create surprising tax results. One of these potential pitfalls can arise when taxpayers take out policy loans on their whole life policies. These loans, when received by the taxpayer, are not taxable income so long as they do not exceed the amount paid in premiums and a termination event does not occur. Prepaying such a loan is usually not mandatory, as any debt outstanding upon the insured’s death will be deducted from the policy payout to beneficiaries.

While these are helpful benefits, they can be double-edged if the taxpayer is forced to surrender the policy or if it lapses. In either of these cases, the loan (plus accrued interest) is taxable, and a Form 1099-R will be issued. This income is cancellation of indebtedness income consistent with Tufts and its progeny, as explained by the Tax Court in Mallory v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2016-110.

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2019-2020 NCBA Paralegal Division Survey Results

By Mollie Schwam, Jennifer Smith-Sutphin, and Tina Thacker

Under the leadership of the 2019-2020 North Carolina Bar Association’s Paralegal Division (NCBA PD) and former Chair, Leslie Pegram, the 2019 Survey Committee was formed. The 2019 Survey Committee was composed of NCBA PD Council Members Mollie Schwam and Jennifer Smith-Sutphin, Co-chairs, and Tina Thacker. The goal of the survey was to build upon the results of the previous survey (the last survey was completed in 2010) and to share the general composition of the NCBA paralegal community. The survey covers credentials, practice areas, and other information, which may be of interest to the paralegal community. While the original survey included questions regarding compensation and benefits, those results have been omitted from final publication at the request of the NCBA; otherwise, survey results are presented here in the original form.

Go to the Survey Results.

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A Marketing Idea for Elder Law Attorneys

By David W. Silver

Looking for another way to market your elder law and estate planning practice? Divorce attorneys can be a great referral source of potential clients who find themselves in need of updating their estate plans. One method of encouraging divorce attorneys to refer your firm to their clients is to give them something of value that they can provide to their clients.

I prepared a summary, which I include below, that describes how marriage, divorce and death can affect a spouse’s Social Security benefits. My aspiration would be to provide this summary (including my name and contact information) to nearby divorce attorneys and let the divorce attorneys hand my summary out to their clients.

While there are plenty of topics that elder law attorneys could cover to assist a person going through a divorce, I realize that the time and research necessary to devote to creating the summary is usually the biggest impediment. If you wish to start with a summary of Social Security benefits, please feel free to cut and paste and utilize any part of my summary that you feel would be useful in creating your own document. Good luck, and let me know how this works for you.

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Is a Contractor’s License and Building Permit Required to Install Industrial Manufacturing Equipment in North and South Carolina?

By David J. Parrish 

National and international manufacturing companies continue to open new manufacturing facilities and expand their existing facilities in North Carolina and South Carolina. This raises the issue of whether the manufacturing equipment used in such facilities must be installed by a licensed contractor under a building permit. It is not uncommon that such equipment is manufactured oversees and for the foreign vendors to fly their employees into the United States to install the equipment. In a recent article, I discuss the contractor licensure requirements and/or exemptions in North and South Carolina for industrial equipment installation. Click here to read the article.

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No More Minors in Jails

By Jacquelyn Greene 

This article was originally published on the UNC School of Government blog On the Civil Side and has been republished with permission.

No More Minors in Jails

Many people assumed that the implementation of raise the age on December 1, 2019 meant the end of confinement of anyone under 18 in a jail. That was not the case. Even under our new legal framework for juvenile jurisdiction, some youth under 18 still have cases that are handled in criminal court from the very beginning. There is currently no legal mechanism to house these youth in a juvenile detention facility instead of a jail. This changes on August 1, 2020, when Part II of Session law 2020-83 takes effect.

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