We’re excited to announce our new, larger Charlotte office! Note our new Charlotte address: 1927 South Tryon St., Suite 100, Charlotte, NC 28203. The Charlotte phone number at 704-970-1593 remains the same. This has been a busy and exciting year for our firm, so here are some updates and recent recognitions: We look forward to an exciting and busy 2018!
Category Archives: Corporate Law
AVOIDING CORPORATE DEADLOCK
Corporations, limited liability companies and other entities have become a standard resource or mechanism to help individuals shield themselves from personal liability when going into business, holding investments, or otherwise entering into a variety of undertakings. The ever increasing use of such structures, however, can sometimes lead to other, unanticipated problems, particularly when the shareholders or directors of an entity cannot agree on matters impacting the entity. In a worst case scenario, disagreements can escalate and eventually lead to complete gridlock, negating many of the advantages and corporate opportunities that once existed. In order to avoid such gridlock and protect … Continue reading
Do You Know Who Your Registered Agent Is?
North Carolina corporations, whether for-profit or nonprofit, must have a registered agent name filed with the NC Secretary of State. Planned communities (i.e., homeowner associations) created on or after January 1, 1999 by statute must be incorporated. And almost all homeowner and condominium associations in North Carolina ARE incorporated, regardless of when they were created. So an important question is, “Do you know who your registered agent is?” Finding Your Registered Agent The process of determining your current registered agent is fairly straightforward. Just visit the Secretary of State’s corporate search page and search for your corporate name (be careful, as different corporations often … Continue reading
Purchasing a Dental Practice? Things to Consider
Whether you are a recent Dental School graduate, will be graduating in the near future, or have been working for some time in another practice, the decision to purchase an established dental practice may be your biggest career decision. It is important that you do your homework and assemble a competent team of advisors, such as an experienced CPA and attorney, to help make sure that you have a successful transition into owning your own business. The following is a list of items to consider in the purchase process: Finding the Practice: Before you ever approach your attorney about purchasing … Continue reading
Changes to Overtime Requirements Under Fair Labor Standards Act Blocked
Employers and employees throughout the United States were significantly impacted yesterday following the issuance of a nationwide preliminary injunction entered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. But for the Court’s ruling, which held that the Department of Labor exceeded the authority delegated to it by Congress in making changes to the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), new regulations modifying the long-standing overtime requirements were set to go into effect, after approximately two years of public comment, consideration and advance notice, on December 1, 2016. Today, many employees and employers, who have … Continue reading
Corporate Veil or Corporate Fail?
By creating a corporate entity (whether it is an S-Corporation, C-Corporation or a limited liability company), many smart business owners seek to create an additional layer of protection between their personal assets or that of their family and the potential liability that can arise when operating a business. Unfortunately, what many do not realize is that simply creating the entity isn’t necessarily enough to achieve or maintain that protection. After the Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization, depending upon whether you decided to create a corporation or a limited liability company, have been filed and accepted by the North … Continue reading
ANNUAL REPORTS DUE TO NORTH CAROLINA SECRETARY OF STATE
With only a few exceptions (for instance, non-profit corporations), entities are required to file an Annual Report with the North Carolina Secretary of State by April 15th and to pay the accompanying fee with their submission. Some business owners may not realize this requirement, while others may be so busy attending to the day-to-day affairs of their business that they forget to do so. The process to file an Annual Report with the North Carolina Secretary of State is not difficult. Many individuals quickly handle the task themselves online or allow their accountant to do so when preparing their tax … Continue reading
Criminals Need Not Apply
Employers today face a wide variety of concerns when hiring new employees. Can the business afford the costs associated with additional personnel? What job functions must the new employee satisfy? What skillsets are required? How is the newly hired individual going to interact with its customers and, just as importantly, its other employees? More and more often, employers are turning to pre-employment criminal background checks as a means of answering or managing the perceived risk associated with at least some of these questions. Seem reasonable? Perhaps, but such checks can also open the door to even greater problems and potential … Continue reading
How to Chair a Convention or Large Membership Meeting
Most of the time, I seem to be advising boards on how to run less formal meetings. That’s because the major parliamentary authorities, such as Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (12th Edition) and The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (“Sturgis”), recognize that boards with not more than about 12 members present can follow more relaxed procedures (and only be more formal if the circumstances require it). For examples of smaller board procedure, see Board Procedures Versus a Membership Meeting or Convention. Even so, you will occasionally encounter larger meetings—homeowner or condominium membership meetings, conventions, church meetings, shareholder meetings, membership meetings of … Continue reading
Buy a Book and Support the National Association of Parliamentarians!
Prior to having two books published last year, I hadn’t given much attention to the bookselling world. Sometimes I’d buy a book from the National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP) at the Biennial Convention or National Training Conference. Or from Barnes & Noble if I happened to be there. Or from Amazon if there was free shipping. Book purchases were really about convenience, since all the books seemed to cost generally the same. In fact, when you think about it, why would an organization like NAP go to the trouble to maintain an online bookstore? For one, NAP publishes original works related to parliamentary procedure … Continue reading
Support CAI — Buy a Book!
Prior to having two books published last year, I hadn’t given much attention to the bookselling world. Sometimes I’d buy a book from the Community Associations Institute (CAI) bookstore at the Annual Conference or Law Seminar. Or I might purchase a book from the National Association of Parliamentarians on meeting procedure. Or from Barnes & Noble if I happened to be there. Or from Amazon if there was free shipping. Book purchases were really about convenience, since all the books seemed to cost generally the same. In fact, when you think about it, why would any organization like CAI go to the trouble to maintain … Continue reading
Employer Restrictions on Social Media Postings
Rare is the business entity that is completely detached from one form or another of social media. Indeed, a significant portion of businesses today directly utilize the benefits offered by social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. And even when a business does not itself engage in social media postings or tweets, you can rest assured that its employees do and will! So how can a business ensure that the messages posted on its social media platforms, as well as those posted about it by its employees on theirs, help promote the image it desires rather than hurt? How … Continue reading
Meeting Myths
5 Myths About Meetings & Parliamentary Procedure If your association meetings are organized, properly run and stay on track, consider yourself lucky. If not, it’s likely your association is spending time on things it shouldn’t or isn’t doing things it should. There are several reasons why you might be having troubles. Let’s dispel some common meeting myths and explore what it takes to run a good one. yth #1: Parliamentary Procedure Doesn’t Matter. Many associations dictate in their governing documents that a certain parliamentary book will be followed when transacting business. In fact, North Carolina and other states have statutes … Continue reading