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For some time now, court-ordered arbitration has been required in Civil District Court
in many of North Carolina's 100 counties. Recently, however there have been some key
changes to the law of court-ordered arbitration here in North Carolina.
First, the General Assembly, the legislature here in North Carolina, has increased the
amount-in-controversy limit for Civil District Court cases from 10,000 to 25,000 dollars.
As a result, we expect a large increase in the number of Civil District Court cases that
will end up being ordered to arbitration.
Second, the General Assembly has also amended the main court-ordered arbitration statute.
For those cases covered by the North Carolina Supreme Court's Arbitration Rules, the amended
statute now appears to require arbitration in all Civil District Court cases throughout
North Carolina. But there are a few wrinkles.
Third, it used to be that to dispense with arbitration required a motion and a court
order. But now, the amended arbitration statute allows the parties to simply waive arbitration
by agreement.
The Tenth Judicial District, here in Wake County, actually now has a form for the parties
to notify the Arbitration Coordinator of the parties' decision to waive arbitration.
We frequently serve as North Carolina Local Trial Counsel both for out-of-state attorneys
and for North Carolina business or real estate transaction attorneys who handle mostly corporate
work. As a service to our existing and potential co-counsel, we have created a Word version
of Wake County's waiver form. Even if your Civil District Court case is pending in another
judicial district, you might want to get our Word form so you can modify it for your district.
To download our Word form now, you should click the link below.