John Babcock joined the Lawyers Mutual Board of Directors in 2012. John practices with Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey in Winston-Salem where he has extensive experience in corporate, tax and transactional matters, mergers and acquisitions and commercial business transactions. Mr. Babcock graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and magna cum laude from the Wake Forest University School of Law, also earning an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University. He has taught as an adjunct professor of law at Wake Forest University. He is recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America® and listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers and Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite, where he was inducted as a Hall of Fame member in 2019. Mr. Babcock is active with the North Carolina Bar Association Business Law Section, where he currently serves as the Chair of the LLC’s, Partnerships and unincorporated entities subcommittee. He has also served as a past Treasurer, Secretary and council member.
As part of North Carolina’s eCourts initiative, the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts (NCAOC) will be introducing a new eFiling system, known as File & Serve, that will allow attorneys statewide for the first time ever to submit documents and case filings online. This new capability will launch later this year in four pilot counties: Harnett, Johnston, Lee, and Wake.
The House and Senate both approved House Bill 776, and Governor Cooper signed the Remote Online Notarization (RON) into law on July 8, 2022. This legislation allows notaries to identify individuals and notarize their signatures using internet technologies. Homebuyers, for example, will be able to close loans and buy houses remotely.