The Chair's Comments
Article Date: Thursday, June 28, 2012
Written By: Christopher B. Capel
This issue of Notes Bearing Interest includes updates from the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. As you may know, one of the Business Law Section’s standing committees is the Secretary of State Liaison committee. The committee chair and others meet regularly with Secretary Marshall or her colleagues to stay abreast of developments, raise suggestions, and offer support. Other committees also periodically work directly with the Department such as the Securities Law Committee’s interaction with the Securities Division of the Department. We are lucky to have a high quality Secretary of State office that recognizes the importance of reliable processing of and access to business records and makes significant information available electronically without charge, among other services. Mo Ogburn has been our very able liaison to the Secretary of State for the past few years and I’d like to thank her for maintaining and expanding our relations in this area. Gene Jones will assume this role as of the beginning of our fiscal year in July.
Another standing committee is Continuing Legal Education, or CLE, currently chaired by Ken Carroll, who also is our Section Vice Chair. Since our last newsletter, our bi-annual Basics of Business Law program was held May 17 and 18. This program continues to be well-attended and worthwhile event. Thank you to Ken and our course planners, Galen Craun and Jennifer Weaver, for their efforts. Our other regular CLE events are our Annual Meeting and Business Law Institute, and Basics of Franchise Law. Please let us know of any suggestions for additional programming. “Save the date” for our 2013 Annual Meeting/Institute on February 21 and 22 in Pinehurst.
In addition to the committees mentioned above, others with active agendas include Banking Law Modernization Task Force, Commercial Law & UCC, Legislative, LLC Revisions Task Force, Membership/Diversity, Nonprofits, Pro Bono/ NC LEAP, Securities Regulation/Investment Advisory Task Force, and others. Many of these activities relate to crafting legislation. Please consider participating in a committee or offering other input.
In our last newsletter, I noted that the NCBA is transitioning from LISTSERV to ListManager and I also followed up with an electronic message to section members. The initial launch of ListManager did not go as smoothly as hoped, but a re-launch is in process, so stay tuned. As I mentioned in my earlier message, I encourage you to use ListManager to interact with your fellow North Carolina business lawyers on topics of professional interest.
As we conclude our fiscal year June 30, I have many additional thanks to express. Jeffrey Batts, Galen Craun, Warren Kean, and Ritchie Taylor are completing their three-year terms on the section council. Scott Dillon has served for several years as chair of the Forms Initiative committee and under his leadership our forms have become a marquee offering of the section. Carolyn Minshall has been working with Scott and will be leading this effort as chair going forward. We appreciate so much their efforts, as well as the efforts of other council members, committee chairs and members, and other section members who have volunteered their time and supported the section’s activities.
I’d also like to express appreciation for the tremendous support the section receives from the Bar Center, in particular from Jane Weathers, Mary Horowitz (NC LEAP), Tina Hughes (CLE), Anne Strickland (Communications), and Mel lissa Grady.
As I’ve mentioned before, don’t forget the section’s webpage. There you will find past issues of this newsletter, forms, business law legislation, legal opinion materials, information on NC LEAP, and more.
Thank you for your membership in our section. I look forward to hearing from you. •
Views and opinions expressed in articles published herein are the authors' only and are not to be attributed to this newsletter, the section, or the NCBA unless expressly stated. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all citations and quotations.