Request from NCBA President-Elect Mark Holt
The N.C. Supreme Court established the Chief Justice’s Rules Advisory Commission in September 2019 to monitor the N.C. Rules of Civil Procedure and General Rules of Practice. The Commission’s work currently focuses on recommendations for rule changes necessary for a statewide e-filing and case-management system, set to roll out over a five-year period beginning in 2021. NCBA President-Elect Mark Holt serves as one of the practicing attorneys on the Commission along with representatives of the Judicial Branch and at-large members.
The Commission is considering a relatively limited edit of Rules 3 and 5 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to allow filing and service through the electronic filing system. In a recent meeting, there was discussion of an additional potential edit of Rule 5 to allow service by email. Service by email has been authorized by Emergency Directive 6 of the Chief Justice’s April 2, 2020 order addressing the COVID-19 outbreak. The rule edit being considered by the Commission would extend authorization of service by email beyond the time period addressed by the Chief Justice’s order. Additionally, there was some discussion about the possibility of also eliminating service by facsimile.
The Judicial Branch and Legislative staff have informally inquired as to whether legislation that included the potential edit of Rule 5 to allow service by email would be broadly supported by the practicing bar and asked NCBA to assist with that assessment.
Please email any comments on whether you think adding service by email to Rule 5 would be supported beyond the time of COVID-19 to Devon Karst, NCBA Government Affairs Manager, at [email protected]. Please also address whether service by facsimile may remain of value to some members of the practicing bar. The deadline for comments is COB on Monday, May 18.
Attached is a draft edit to Rules 3 and 5, including authorization of email service, removal of service by fax, and other changes being considered by the Commission.
The Chief Justice’s April 2, 2020 order containing Emergency Directive 6 addressing email service is here.