Rule 5.3 - Calendar RequestsAn attorney of record or pro se party may request that a case be placed on a NJ-ADM session (administrative session) by completing an appropriately marked calendar request and delivering a copy to the Civil Court Coordinator or Court Assistant. The calendar request will then be filed in the Clerk of Superior Court's Office by the Civil Court Coordinator.
An attorney of record or pro se party may request that a case be placed on a NJ-C (trial calendar) by first checking the availability of open trial sessions either on the Civil Trial Calendar Google Document found here https://calendar.google.com/calendar, or with the Civil Court Coordinator. Once availability has been determined, a calendar request must be completed by the Civil Court Coordinator in order to reserve the trial date.
A filed copy of all calendar requests will be placed in the attorney's box located in the courthouse, or to parties via email, facsimile, the U.S. Postal Service, or by other appropriate means as is necessary. Unless the matter is calendared by Civil Court Coordinator independently, proper notice and service remain the responsibility of the parties.
A)Calendaring and Timing.a.Calendaring for LTON NJ-ADM. Calendaring for LTON NJ-ADM requests for LTON NJ-ADM (administrative session) must be provided to the Civil Court Coordinator or Court Assistant at least 14 days prior to the session of court.b.Calendaring for LTON NJ-C. Calendar requests for LTON NJ-C (trial sessions) must be filed at least 28 days prior to the requested LTON NJ-C session. i.Requests provided after the time limits have passed will be considered for calendaring based on a showing of good cause, approval by the presiding judge, or by the Chief District Court Judge.c.Calendaring for Civil Motions. Cases may be placed on the LTON (CIVIL-MOTIONS) calendar by two means: i. During LTON NJ -ADM (administrative session) calendar call, any motion or temporary hearing that is scheduled during that LTON NJ-ADM (administrative session) session where the hearing will exceed 1 hour shall be scheduled for a LTON (CIVIL MOTIONS) session during the same of week of the LTON (NJ-ADM) calendar in which the case is currently set.ii. Parties may also place cases on the LTON (CIVIL-MOTIONS) calendar by filing an appropriately marked calendar request with the Civil Court Coordinator when they know their hearing will exceed the 1 hour limitation.iii. The presiding judge may schedule other matters appearing before them in a LTON NJ-ADM (administrative session) or the LTON (CIVIL-MOTIONS) session in their discretion.iv. Motions must be filed in a manner sufficient to give opposing counsel notice as required by the Rules of Civil Procedure.B)Temporary Hearings.a. Temporary hearings shall include hearings of request for temporary custody or visitation, or for modification of a custody order, temporary child support, post-separation support, and interim partial distributions pursuant to NCGS § 50 - 20(i1). i. Parties and their attorneys, if any, shall be present at the hearing.ii.Temporary hearings shall be limited to one hour and a half. Each party shall be allocated one half of that time [forty-five (45) minutes] to be used for cross-examination of the opposing party and opening and closing statements. The time it takes for the Judge to review any affidavits, in the Court's discretion, counts toward the parties' time. Examination of the child in a temporary custody hearing is in the discretion of the presiding judge, and the time involved, in the Court's discretion, will come out of the party's respective times.iii. Any motion projected to take more than 2 hours requires a trial setting or may be placed on the stand-by trial calendar of the next trial session.C)Conflictsa. Conflicts between attorneys as to an appropriate trial date shall be resolved by the Civil Court Coordinator or the Chief District Court Judge.b. Cases shall not be placed on a NJ-ADM (administrative session) solely for the purpose of obtaining a NJ-C trial date unless deemed necessary by the Civil Court Coordinator.N.C. R. Prac. Sup. & Dist. Ct. Civ. P. 5.3
Adopted December 21, 2022, effective 1/1/2023.