N.C. R. Prac. Super. & Dist. Ct. 4
Not less than four (4) weeks prior to the first day of each civil session, the Court Manager shall prepare a final calendar of cases for trial at that session. Distribution of the final calendar shall be made by posting on the Internet at www.nccourts.gov (http://www1.aoc.state.nc.us/www/calendars/Civil.html is the direct link for calendar.) The Court Manager shall mail a copy of the calendar to each law firm with one or more cases listed thereon and to each party not represented by an attorney if such party's address appears of record, notifying them that the calendar has been posted to the Internet. Each attorney and each unrepresented party shall be responsible for seeing that his correct mailing address appears in the record. The final trial calendar shall contain all cases on the tentative trial calendar unless they are removed by the Court Manager or the cases have previously been terminated and, in addition, shall contain any motions that have matured or been requested by an attorney of record and cases for trial not reached or continued at a previous session, after consultation with attorneys of record as to their conflicts and convenience. The final trial calendar shall contain a sufficient number of cases to ensure full use of available time but not an excess number of cases that will result in numerous cases being consistently not reached or witnesses being unnecessarily inconvenienced. The final trial calendar shall contain any cases having statutory priority as required by law. Posting the calendar to the web and delivery of the calendar to attorneys of record or unrepresented parties shall constitute notice of hearing as required by Rule 7(b)(1) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure for cases calendared by the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge and/or the Court Manager on their own initiative.
Peremptorily set cases shall be calendared at the top of the final calendar and marked accordingly. Thereafter, cases shall be set by date of filing in chronological order unless otherwise ordered by the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge. The Presiding Judge shall have the authority to call any case out of order as in his discretion he may deem appropriate.
At any time more than four (4) weeks before the first day of a session, an attorney may request a peremptory setting for any case listed on the calendar. The request must be served on all attorneys or unrepresented parties, must state the reasons why the case should be peremptorily set, and should state whether all attorneys in the case approve the request. The request should be directed to the Office of the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge. No more than one (1) peremptory setting per week shall be made during any session of court. If a peremptorily set case is continued, attorneys in that case shall not be entitled to a second priority setting unless another request is approved. Peremptory settings may be allowed in cases involving persons who must travel long distances, cases involving numerous expert witnesses, or cases involving other extraordinary reasons.
The final trial calendar shall schedule motions for final pre-trials for each Monday morning. Non-jury cases shall be calendared for Monday and are to be heard at the pleasure of the Presiding Judge.
If, for any reason, a case is not reached for trial during the session of court for which it is set, the Presiding Judge may place the case on the final calendar for the next session of court. Otherwise, any case not reached shall be re-calendared in the discretion of the Presiding Judge based on the circumstances for that case.
N.C. R. Prac. Sup. & Dist. Ct. Civ. P. 4