N.C. R. Prac. Sup. & Dist. Ct. Civ. P. 4
All parties shall file appropriate pleadings, notice of hearing and any necessary monies with the Clerk of Superior Court. All trials will automatically be scheduled for a specific trial date once the case is determined to be ready for trial by the Caseflow Management Division of the Trial Court Administrator's (TCA) Office.
The TCA Caseflow Management Division shall send individual notices of hearing and certificates of service to all attorneys and self-represented parties for the following court events.
The TCA Caseflow Management Division shall provide the court date to the moving party/plaintiff for the following court events and it shall be the responsibility of the plaintiff to serve the Notice of Hearing on the opposing counsel/party pursuant to Rule 5 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure.
*Please note that in Summary Ejectment Appeals, the plaintiff remains the same. It will be the responsibility of the plaintiff, not defendant-appellant, to serve the Notice of Hearing on the defendant.
The TCA Caseflow Management Division shall assign the court date once the filing is accepted by the Clerk of Superior Court and entered in the eCourt Enterprise Justice (Odyssey) Integrated Case Management System.
The TCA Caseflow Management Division will send the court date information to the plaintiff using the contact information from the party record in Odyssey. In the correspondence to the plaintiff, Caseflow Court Coordinators will include instructions for attending the Calendar Call, Webex login information, references to applicable local rules, and information about eCourts Portal and File amp; Serve. It is the responsibility of the plaintiff to ensure the date, time and location received from the TCA Caseflow Management Division is cited in the Notice of Hearing. The Notice of Hearing shall be filed with the Clerk of Superior Court. It is the responsibility of counsel or self-represented parties to serve the Notice of Hearing on the opposing side. The Notice of Hearing shall be served no later than two (2) business days after the court date has been received and served by one of the below:
All cases excluded from the arbitration process set in accordance with Rule 3.1 will be set for trial. The trial date that is assigned shall be a firm date. Continuances will not be granted, even if all parties agree, unless for good cause shown (See Rule 9).
If cases scheduled for the 9:30 AM or 11:00 AM calendar on the first day of the session cannot be heard during the allotted time because of crowded dockets, such cases may be scheduled for hearing at a later time during the session if time allows. All parties must appear promptly for calendar call at the time that their cases are set on the first day of the session whether at 9:00 AM, 9:30 AM, or 11:00 AM. Failure to be present for calendar call at the appropriate scheduled session may result in entry of dismissal or entry of an unfavorable judgment against the absentee party.
Any case listed on a published trial calendar is subject to dismissal for failure to prosecute if, at the time it is called for trial, the attorneys (or the parties themselves, if not represented by counsel) are not present or ready to proceed. All cases calendared shall be ready for trial at any time during the session. When an attorney is notified to appear before the Court, the attorney shall, consistent with ethical requirements, appear or have a partner, associate, or another attorney familiar with the case present.
To achieve a balanced docket, the TCA Caseflow Management Division shall re-calendar cases not reached or continued by the Court to future trial sessions based upon calendar availability. It is the responsibility of counsel to contact the TCA Caseflow Management Division to advise of any future conflicts no later than the Friday afternoon of the close of the trial session during which time the case was initially scheduled but was not reached or was continued by the Court.
Counsel may request a specific session of Court by filing a Request to Set (Local Form CCF-2) with the TCA Caseflow Management Division. All requests must be received prior the publication of the trial calendar.
Actions where the sole issue is collection on account will be set for bench trial, unless specifically marked as a demand for jury trial, for a time certain not less than 120 days from the filing of the answer. The TCA Caseflow Management shall send the scheduling order to all attorneys and self-represented parties with official notice of the court date for collection on account cases.
Cases defined as peremptory in accordance with Rule 6 or cases having statutory priority shall appear at the top of each trial calendar. To the extent possible, the TCA Caseflow Management Division shall set other cases so that the oldest-numbered cases from the calendars will appear as the first cases, after those designated as peremptory or given statutory priority. Cases that were previously calendared may also be given priority.
N.c. R. Prac. Sup. & Dist. Ct. Civ. P. 4