North Carolina procedural guides
Last verified August 17, 2026
Plain-English guides to the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, each one tied to the rules it relies on. Every rule named in a guide has its own page with the official text.
- Responding to a North Carolina complaint: 30 days, and the 30 more you can get by agreementNorth Carolina gives 30 days to answer. Rule 6(b) also lets the parties stipulate to as much as 30 additional days without asking the court — a right most states don't grant.
- North Carolina discovery deadlines: 30 days — but 45 if you're the defendantNorth Carolina gives a defendant 45 days from service of the summons and complaint to answer written discovery, not the usual 30. Requests can also arrive with the summons itself.
- North Carolina summary judgment: 10 days to the hearing, and a 2-day affidavit rule that means actual receiptN.C. Rule 56(c) requires the motion 10 days before the hearing and opposing affidavits 2 days before — and for that 2-day rule, service means the other side actually receives it.
- North Carolina Rule 9(j): the certification goes in the complaint, or the case is dismissedNorth Carolina Rule 9(j) requires a medical malpractice complaint to assert that an expert has reviewed the care and will testify it fell below the standard — with a 120-day extension available only before the limitations period runs.
- North Carolina default judgment: the clerk enters it, and three days' notice if you appearedNorth Carolina Rule 55 lets the clerk enter both the default and, on a sum certain, the judgment — with three days' written notice to a party who has appeared, and Rule 60(b)'s one-year outer limit to undo it.
- Serving a North Carolina summons: 60 days, then endorsement or an alias and pluriesNorth Carolina Rule 4 gives 60 days to serve a summons and keeps the action alive by endorsement or an alias and pluries summons — each available within 90 days of the last one.
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Looking for a specific rule? Browse the full North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure — every rule with its official text, a plain-English summary and FAQs. Guides for other jurisdictions are on the guides index.