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NC PT Juris: Document Preparation and Office Practice

NC PT Juris · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Document Preparation and Office Practice

What this domain tests

This section tests whether documents leaving the office are procedurally correct and defensible: proper caption and format, correct signature and certificate of service, reliable calendaring, and file and trust-account practices that satisfy the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Format and execution

  • Pleadings must contain a caption naming the court and county, the parties, the file number, a title, a numbered-body or clear statement of the relief sought, the date, and a signature block (Rule 10).
  • Under Rule 11 the pleading is signed by the attorney, whose North Carolina State Bar number appears in the signature block. A paralegal may prepare the document but does not sign it.
  • Every served document carries a certificate of service stating the method and date of service. Verification and notarial acknowledgments must be complete - a missing jurat invalidates the execution.
  • Electronic filing deadlines under the statewide eCourts system extend to the end of the day, and confirmation receipts should be saved to the file.

Office systems that prevent malpractice

  • Run a conflicts check before the first substantive conversation, not after.
  • Calendar from the triggering event with a written tickler, and docket every deadline twice: once for the attorney, once for the assistant.
  • Client funds belong in a trust account and are disbursed only as earned; keep individual ledgers and reconciled statements.
  • Retain closed files under the firm's retention schedule and a written destruction policy; destroy paper containing client information by secure means.

Worked example

A paralegal drafts a motion to compel, dates it, and sends it out with her own signature. The filing is deficient twice: the motion lacks the attorney's signature and bar number, and it omits a certificate of service. Both defects invite a motion to strike and a wasted hearing date.

Traps that cost marks

  • Signing a document "for" the attorney without authority.
  • Captioning the wrong county or the wrong court division.
  • Calendaring only the hearing date and ignoring the response or reply deadline.