Tuesday January 12, 2010

This morning the House Commerce Committee heard testimony on H. 480 a bill that seemed simple on it face but as always happens quickly got much more complicated. The bill as written would require that articles of termination of an LLC include a statement that all members of the LLC have received written notice by certified mail. OK; that’s easy enough to understand. The bill’s sponsor related a story of a constituent who was a member of an LLC that was terminated without notice to him. And the fix seemed simple in the bill as drafted. But enter the Office of the Secretary of State who was concerned that they might be put in a place of having to verify the “proof” that a member was notified. That they didn’t want to do nor could they do. They were, however, willing to amend their termination form to include a check off that notice had been provided to members.
Well the committee went round and round with alternative language dealing with certified mail; return receipt requested; first class mail; proof of receipt; proof of mailing, etc. I don’t know where it will end or what it will say when it’s over. They may in fact return to it later today. But in the usual legislative fashion something that seemed simple got more and more complicated as the morning went on. I’ll let you know what the bill looks like when it hits the House floor. But not to worry; there’s still the Senate.
On the restructuring front, tomorrow will be a big day in House Judiciary. After Justice Johnson and Judge Davenport testify before the committee I’ll be speaking to them about the VBA Board position. The afternoon schedule right now shows Judge Belcher and Judge Balivet on the witness list. I also recall that Assistant Judge Colvin from Bennington County will be testifying late tomorrow or Thursday. So the next two days will open the committee to some alternative approaches to the report of the Commission. And for those of you headed to Montreal for the Young lawyer’s Division Thaw weekend, please join us at 4:15 on Friday after the Professionalism CLE to hear more about restructuring and to share your views with members of the Commission and members of the legislature.
I’ll post something tomorrow after the dust settles. Thanks for reading.