During this unprecedented time, we are open – albeit, conducting meetings via telephone and video conference – and ready to assist you with any legal questions you might have about any of the following (and more):

• Working remotely
• Ramifications of closing your business
• Liability for remaining open for business or holding events
• Employee wage issues, including the pending employment law (federal legislation has passed the House, but not Senate)
• What happens if you cannot perform as required under your contract
• What happens if your vendor cannot supply as required under your contract
• Do you have to issue refunds?
• Should you amend contracts now?
• SBA Disaster Assistance Loans for Small Businesses 
• Interpretation of business interruption insurance clauses

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The beauty of being a technologically advanced firm is that really very little will change. All of our systems are already cloud based, we have e-signature and credit card processing via email, and we can do telephone and video Zoom meetings as requested!

For our clients with court matters: The Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court has postponed most court hearings indefinitely (excepting emergency hearings). However, court filing deadlines are still in effect.  

We are asking our clients to allow our team to mail in court filings instead of hand delivering them to the courthouse.  This will result in a delay, and for probate matters, it may result in a substantial delay. We need to lead by example. We hope you understand. 

For our estate planning clients: As of right now, we can still hold signing ceremonies if it is really important to our clients that their documents are executed soon.  We do not want to delay considering we could be “social distancing” for an extended period of time. However, this only applies to our clients who are not sick, have not been around someone with flu-like symptoms, and are comfortable coming into the office. We will be taking extra precautions surrounding the signing ceremonies like not shaking hands or sharing pens.  We will clean thoroughly before and after each appointment.
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We could also utilize a clipboard and do signings through a cracked car window. Another option is to mail your documents to you along with detailed instructions, but this only works if you have access to two unrelated, non-beneficiary, non-healthcare worker witnesses and a third person who is a notary. Our ability to make on-the-spot edits would be limited in these two circumstances.

For our elderly or immune-compromised clients: Please let us know if there is anything we can do to assist you in getting food or supplies.  We are happy to simply drop at your door.

By Associate Attorney Danielle Nodar
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After completing the numerous steps to form a business, business owners sometimes forget that they have to file annual reports with the North Carolina Secretary of State to keep their business active.

Each Business Corporation, Limited Liability Company (LLC), Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), and Limited Liability Limited Partnership (LLLP) must file an Annual Report. Limited Partnerships, Professional Corporations (PCs), and
Professional Limited Liability Companies (PLLC’s) do not have to file an Annual Report.

The due date for your business’s annual report depends upon the type of business. For corporations and partnerships (LLP and LLLP), the annual report is due to the Secretary of State’s Office the 15th day of the fourth month following the entity’s fiscal year’s end. For example, if your fiscal year ends on December 31, your annual report for that year is due on April 15th. The due date for LLC’s Annual Reports is April 15 each year after the date of creation. There is also a fee due each year when filing the Annual Report. For LLC’s and partnerships, the fee is $200 and for corporations, the fee is $25.

Businesses can file their Annual Report to the Secretary of State’s Office by mail, or they can file their Annual Report and pay the fee online via the Secretary of State’s website.

The Annual Report is used to keep the business records on file with the North Carolina Secretary of State up to date. On the Annual Report, you will provide basic information about your business, such as the nature of the business, the name and address of the registered agent, the principal address of the business, and the names and signatures of company officials.

The consequence for not filing an Annual Report and/or paying the fee is that the Secretary of State can administratively dissolve your business for failing to file the Annual Report. This means that you will lose the liability protection you enjoy by being a formal business, and a creditor can come after your personal assets.

It is important for business owners to make sure their registered agent information and email address is current throughout the year because the Secretary of State sends notices related to the Annual Report to the registered agent and the email it has on file for the business. We see a lot of businesses get dissolved and the owner does not even know because they have not updated their registered agent’s information in years (or paid their professional registered agent’s fee, who promptly drops them as a client).

If you are a business owner and have questions about filing your Annual Report or reinstating a business that has been dissolved for failure to file an Annual Report, contact Jesson & Rains.