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Public: Recent News

The General Assembly adjourned the 2007 “long session” on Aug. 2. This year’s legislative session, which began on Jan. 24, was marked by passage of a $21 billion state budget that included significant additional funding for the judicial branch for both the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years. For a summary of the judicial branch budget, please see the latest edition of the Governmental Affairs Update.

Overall, the NCBA and its Office of Governmental Affairs experienced great success this year as 8 of the 11 section-sponsored bills passed as did all 11 of the bills that were formally supported by the NCBA. For a list of the 22 bills that the NCBA actively lobbied this session and their status, please refer to the NCBA’s Legislative Agenda.

Perhaps the most significant section-sponsored bill that past this session was the Advanced Directives/Health Care Power of Attorney legislation. Sponsored in the Senate by Fletcher Hartsell and in the House by Deborah Ross, this legislation was the product of a joint effort of the NCBA and N.C. Medical Society that was nearly 3 years in the making.

The new law will clarify the right to make advance directives and to designate health care agents and also greatly improves and simplifies the sample forms. Once signed into law, this legislation will mark a significant improvement and change compared to the current law and will warrant a full-day NCBA Foundation CLE in the very near future.

Additional successes included two bills from the Family Law section related to adoption and termination of parental rights (H865 & H866), a bill from the Health Law section concerning the Safe Surrender Law (H485), and legislation that clarifies the conflict in North Carolina’s statutes and case law concerning the recovery of costs in civil cases (H21).

In addition, the Bar Association played an integral role in passing legislation that will reform the process of administrative and judicial review in tax cases (S242) and a bill that provides for the arbitration of medical malpractice cases in North Carolina (H1671). And in good news for law students and bar applicants, the Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section wrote and helped pass a law to partially repeal the Rule Against Perpetuities (H1384).

Although it would be nice to report that the session was a complete success, the truth is that a few NCBA-sponsored bills failed to pass. Legislation to abolish the torts of alienation of affections and criminal conversation (H681) was defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In addition, a bill that was near and dear to the hearts of many real property attorneys in North Carolina, the Consumer Real Estate Settlement Protection Act (CRESPA), also did not pass this session. The CRESPA bill is still alive for consideration during the 2008 short session and there are plans to work on a compromise bill that will hopefully lead to improvements in the real estate settlement industry as soon as next year.

One of the most impressive aspects of the recent session was the level of volunteer activity by the sections of the NCBA, which seemed to reach an all-time high with many members of the bar association playing critical roles in shaping major legislation, noted Director of Governmental Affairs Doug Heron.

Members from all sections were called upon to provide input on the language of bills, to testify before legislative committees, and to be involved in executive-level discussions on major legislative initiatives.

The level of involvement of the section volunteers, and the degree to which legislators rely on the NCBA for input, is an indication of the respect lawyers command in the legislative process.

A complete recap of the session’s proceedings will be provided in the Legislative Bulletin, provided to NCBA members at the end of each legislative session by the Office of Governmental Affairs.

The latest edition of Legislative Bulletin, available online to NCBA members by the end of the month, will provide a synopsis of the legislative session in a revised user-friendly format that links directly from the summaries to the complete text of each bill. In the meantime, a list of legislation that passed this session and that is relevant to the practice of law can be found on the Governmental Affairs web site.