Back in 2015, my former colleague Ann Anderson, wrote about legislation amending provisions in Rule 26(b)(4) dealing with expert witnesses in this post https://civil.sog.unc.edu/north-carolinas-expert-witness-discovery-rule-changes-and-clarifications/.

S.L. 2015-153, in an effort “to provide openness and avoid unfair tactical advantage in the presentation of a case at trial,” amended Rule 26 to require a party to disclose the identity of an expert witness that it may use at trial, regardless of whether the other party requested disclosure through discovery.