Articles in the Civil Procedure-General category

Civil lawsuits, regardless of their eventual complexity, all begin the same way: with the filing of the complaint. North Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure 8 requires that the complaint contain a “short and plain statement” of the events that form the basis of the claims for relief. G.S. 1A-1, Rule 8(a)(1). Courts and scholars have often referred to this requirement as notice pleading.

Imagine you are a litigant in a civil case and the trial court has entered an order that leaves you unhappy. Let’s say that you cannot appeal this order. What are you, the aggrieved litigant, to do?

In this post from 2015, https://civil.sog.unc.edu/servicemembers-civil-relief-act-applies-to-family-cases-too/, I wrote about the first appellate opinion in North Carolina to address the requirements of the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act, now codified at 50 […]

North Carolina has launched eCourts in all 100 counties and the North Carolina Business Court. Related changes to the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure and General Rules of Practice […]

I have written before about entry of default and default judgments under G.S. 1A-1, Rule 55. My colleagues have also written about general appearances. But the word “appearance” in the […]

When a defendant fails to answer a complaint, the plaintiff can seek default judgment. Default judgment is a two-step process governed by G.S. 1A-1, Rule 55. Step one: the plaintiff […]

Service of process is fundamental to our system of civil justice. Every party to a civil action or special proceeding in North Carolina is entitled to notice of the action […]

When a party is sued, they often want to make the lawsuit go away. One of the most common ways of attempting to get rid of a lawsuit is a […]

Our justice system depends on due process: the idea that legal proceedings follow established rules and individuals are protected from arbitrary acts of the government. One kind of due process, […]

Trial court judgments in bench trials must contain findings of fact and conclusions of law. Orders disposing of motions, on the other hand, normally only need findings and conclusions if […]