By Attorney Kelly Jesson
The FTC’s Final Rule banning non-compete agreements was published in the Federal Register on May 7, 2024. This means that the Rule's effective date will be Wednesday, September 4, 2024 (120 days after publication). As we mentioned before, there have already been lawsuits filed asking for injunctions against the implementation of the Rule, so there is still a possibility the ban will not go into effect. However, if the Rule is still in place as September 4th approaches, businesses will need to notify its employees and former employees subject to non-compete agreements that their non-compete agreements are no longer valid before September 4th. We wrote a blog about this last week, and you can read it here. If you would like any assistance notifying employees, or to determine whether the ban applies to your business, please give Jesson & Rains a call!
0 Comments
By Attorney Kelly Jesson
But don’t panic because it is already being challenged. The first lawsuit was filed within hours, and other businesses and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have vowed to challenge the law on the grounds that the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) lacks the legal authority to promulgate such a rule. If any of these parties get an injunction, the implementation of the rule may be delayed. The rule will go into effect 120 days after it is published in the Federal Register. Unfortunately, we don’t know what that date is yet, but we will pass that along when we know (and it should be soon). Assuming the rule goes into effect as the FTC plans, here are the important points:
We spend a lot of time speaking with clients about estate planning, and over the years we have heard many misconceptions on the topic that seem to come up over and over again. Today we are talking with attorney Kelly Jesson about the three most common estate planning myths. Please call Jesson & Rains if you have questions about getting your estate plan in order or updating an existing estate plan.
By Attorney Edward Jesson - Updated 3/2/2024 (Originally Published 3/2/2023)
There are numerous to-do items and deadlines business owners must keep up with to successfully run a business. However, many business owners forget that they must file an Annual Report with the North Carolina Secretary of State to keep their business in active and good standing with the state. The Annual Report is used to keep the business records up to date with the Secretary of State. Most businesses formalized with the Secretary of State’s Office need to file an Annual Report, such as Business Corporations, Limited Liability Companies (LLC), Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP), and Limited Liability Limited Partnerships (LLLP). Non-Profits, Limited Partnerships, Professional Corporations (PCs), and Professional Limited Liability Companies (PLLC’s) do not have to file an Annual Report. There is also a filing fee due with the Annual Report. For LLC’s and partnerships, the fee is $200, and for corporations, the fee is $25. The due date for your business’s annual report depends upon the type of business, but generally April 15th is the deadline for most businesses. For corporations and partnerships, 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. Jesson & Rains offers a yearly plan for businesses that includes filing the annual report, among other things. This plan helps to ensure your privacy (if your business is ever sued, the lawsuit will be delivered to our office’s address); you will be less likely to fall victim to a scam (we will sort through and destroy junk mail); you will be more organized and have less paper (we will scan and forward your mail immediately to your attention after sorting); and we will ensure that corporate records and Secretary of State records are kept up to date. As a part of this plan, Jesson & Rains will also assist in filing the necessary documents in response to the new Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), which requires companies to disclose beneficial owner information to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s financial crimes agency “FinCEN”. We also offer an upgraded yearly plan that includes unlimited telephone access to attorneys throughout the year. The consequence for not filing an Annual Report and/or paying the fee is that the Secretary of State can administratively dissolve your business. This means that you can lose the liability protection you enjoy by being a business, and a creditor may be able to come after your personal assets. If you have questions about filing your Annual Report or want to learn more about the annual plan services offered by our firm, you can click HERE, or feel free to reach out to Jesson & Rains directly! By Attorney Kelly Jesson
On Friday, March 1, 2024, a federal judge in Alabama ruled that the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) is unconstitutional because Congress lacks the authority to require companies to disclose personal beneficial owner information (“BOI”) to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s financial crimes agency “FinCEN”. A beneficial owner is defined as a person who, either directly or indirectly, exercises “substantial control” over the business or who owns or controls at least 25% of the ownership interests in a business, such as stocks, voting rights, or interests in profits. A beneficial owner also includes a person in their individual capacity as managing the business, such as an LLC Manager, Board Member, or CEO. The required filing includes the individual’s full legal name, date of birth, current residential address, an identifying number from a non-expired government ID like a US passport or US driver’s license, and a copy of the ID document. There are certain entities that are exempt from the CTA’s reporting requirements, such as nonprofits and large operating companies that are already subject to regulatory oversight such as publicly traded companies, insurance companies, and registered investment companies. What does the court’s ruling mean for you? Unfortunately, the court limited its ruling to apply only to the specific plaintiffs in its case. However, this ruling has opened the door for many other lawsuits of its type, and they are sure to follow. If a court issues a ruling that the CTA is unconstitutional as applied to all businesses, then you may not have to comply with the CTA in the future. However, for now, it is the law. So, for new businesses that are formed this year, BOI must be reported to FinCEN report within 90 days of the business’s formation. We take care of this for our clients. Businesses that were formed before January 1, 2024, have the entire year to submit their first report to FinCEN. Given the uncertainty of the law, we are waiting to submit BOI to FinCEN until late 2024 (in case we don’t have to do it at all). We are submitting this information to FinCEN on behalf of our annual plan clients, as well. If you are interested in having us handle your business’s reporting requirements, including the Secretary of State’s annual report which is due April 15, and the FinCEN report, please let us know! More information is included here. By Attorney Edward Jesson - Updated 2/29/2024 (Originally Published 3/27/2019)
People and businesses get sued every day, and while no one enjoys being on the receiving end of a lawsuit, there are certain things that should be done to try and make the experience as painless as possible. In North Carolina, a lawsuit is generally started when an individual or a business (also called the “plaintiff”) files a complaint. The clerk of court issues a summons, which must be served on the defendant (the party being sued). This can generally be done by mailing it certified mail, return receipt requested, sending via FedEx or UPS, or having the county sheriff personally deliver a copy of the summons and complaint. Once the summons and complaint have been served, the defendant has 30 days to respond to the complaint in district and superior courts. In small claims court, when a defendant is served (in some instances this can be achieved by the sheriff leaving a copy of the complaint taped to the front door), they will usually receive a notice of hearing along with the complaint. Here is the first point that I would like to make clear: if you are served with a lawsuit, please do not wait until day 29 to contact an attorney. Evaluating your position as a defendant in a lawsuit and preparing the correct response takes time. While you can usually get a 30-day extension of time to respond, doing so at the last minute is not always possible, and the extension likely won’t be granted if it is after day 30. If you fail to respond to the complaint in time, the plaintiff may be entitled to a default judgment. It is exactly what it sounds like— they will automatically win “by default”! A default judgment can be hard to overcome once it is entered, and the excuse that you simply “forgot” to respond is usually not enough. Point number two: Do not answer the complaint without first consulting with an attorney. In an answer, you will generally just admit or deny the allegations to the complaint, but that is not the only response that is available. There are several ways that you may be able to get the lawsuit dismissed (meaning the case is thrown out), but that option is not available if you admit or deny allegations in the answer first. By doing that yourself, you may be preventing an attorney from later dismissing the lawsuit. For most people who are sued, it is for the first time in their lives (and hopefully the only time). Once the shock, confusion, and anger has worn off, it is important not to bury your head in the sand. Contact a litigation attorney who can help you navigate through the civil system and, hopefully, get your case resolved in the most efficient way possible. If done correctly, you may save a lot of money; however, trying to handle it yourself oftentimes results in the expenditure of more money. If you or anyone you know has been sued, please give the attorneys at Jesson & Rains a call. |
Subscribe to our newsletter.AuthorKelly Rains Jesson Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
|