The question matters to anyone who lives far from Graham and is looking at an attorney whose office is there. North Carolina answers it in its statutes and in the State Bar rules. This post covers the statewide license, where a case is filed, what stays in your county, the crash report, the solicitation rule and how the first conversation works.
G.S. 84-16 ties an attorney's license to the state and not a county
An active member of the North Carolina State Bar holds a license that G.S. 84-16 describes as entitling the holder to practice law in the State of North Carolina. The statute ties the license to the state and names no county or city inside it.
G.S. 84-16 also says that no one other than a member of the North Carolina State Bar can practice in any court of the State. G.S. 84-4 makes it unlawful, except as otherwise permitted by law, for anyone except active members of the Bar of the State of North Carolina to appear as attorney in any action or proceeding before any judicial body. Read together, the two sections draw the line at State Bar membership and not at a county line.
Checking a license in the State Bar membership directory
The North Carolina State Bar publishes an online membership directory with the name and contact information of its members. Anyone can search it by name, State Bar ID, city, judicial district or member status. My State Bar number is 25407 and I was admitted in 1998, so you can look me up there by name or by that number.
Exception. An attorney licensed only in another state stands in a different position. G.S. 84-16 keeps practice in North Carolina courts to State Bar members except foreign attorneys as provided by statute and people who represent themselves.
The question to ask an attorney from another part of North Carolina is whether the North Carolina license is active. The county printed on the letterhead does not change the answer.
Where is my case filed if my attorney's office is in Graham?
G.S. 1-82 is the North Carolina venue rule for "all other cases," the actions that the specific venue sections earlier in Article 7 of Chapter 1, G.S. 1-76 through 1-81.2, do not place. It places the action in the county where the plaintiffs or the defendants, or any of them, reside when the action begins. The attorney's office is not one of the things the statute names.
| Where the parties live when the action begins | County G.S. 1-82 points to |
|---|---|
| You live in New Hanover County and the other driver lives in Buncombe County | New Hanover County or Buncombe County |
| You live in New Hanover County and no defendant lives in North Carolina | New Hanover County, where a plaintiff lives |
| No party lives in North Carolina | The county the plaintiff designates in the summons and complaint, subject to the court's power to change the place of trial |
The City of Wilmington describes itself as located in New Hanover County. Buncombe County lists the City of Asheville among its municipalities. A resident of either city has a home county that G.S. 1-82 counts, and the city pages for injured people in Wilmington and for Asheville and Buncombe County name the courthouse for each one.
A case does not have to come to Graham because my office is there. The office address plays no part in the venue rule. When a case can be moved to another county after it is filed, under G.S. 1-83, is covered in the post on being hurt in a county where you do not live.
G.S. 1-82 looks at where the people in the case live. The county where the crash happened is not the test the statute uses.
If you live in Alamance, Caswell, Orange or Chatham County, juliandoby.com is the site for your county. Wake County residents belong on accidentattorneyraleighnc.com.
What still happens at your county's courthouse
North Carolina district court sits in the county seat of each county under G.S. 7A-130(a), and at any additional places in each county that the General Assembly authorizes. G.S. 7A-130(b) lets the chief district court judge order sessions held outside a county seat when exigent circumstances exist within a judicial district. Neither subsection ties a court session to the county where an attorney keeps an office.
| County | Courthouse | Address |
|---|---|---|
| New Hanover | New Hanover County Courthouse | 316 Princess St, Wilmington, NC 28401 |
| Buncombe | Buncombe County Courthouse | 60 Court Plaza, Asheville, NC 28801 |
| Alamance | Alamance County Historical Courthouse | 1 Court Square, Graham, NC 27253 |
Filing papers in a distant county through eCourts
The North Carolina Judicial Branch states that North Carolina fully implemented the eCourts conversion in all 100 counties as of October 13, 2025. Every county now uses the Enterprise Justice electronic filing and case management system, which means one system takes filings in Wilmington and in Asheville alike.
Exception. G.S. 7A-49.6(a) lets North Carolina judicial officials conduct proceedings by audio and video transmission in which the participants can see and hear each other, within the limits the rest of the section sets. Under G.S. 7A-49.6(d), a party can object to a civil proceeding held that way. A judge who finds good cause for the objection does not hold it by audio and video.
Your crash report comes from the agency that worked the crash
A North Carolina crash report starts with the law enforcement agency that investigated the crash, under G.S. 20-166.1(e). The officer who investigates a reportable accident writes the report within 24 hours of the accident, whether the investigation happens at the scene or through later interviews.
Where the report goes next depends on who wrote it. A State Highway Patrol officer forwards it to the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles. Any other officer forwards it to the local law enforcement agency for the area where the accident occurred, and that agency forwards it to the Division within 10 days of receiving it.
G.S. 20-166.1(i) makes reports by law enforcement officers public records open to inspection at all reasonable times. The Division gives a certified copy to a member of the public who asks and pays the fee set in G.S. 20-42. G.S. 20-166.1(e) adds that nothing in the section stops a law enforcement agency from providing reports that are public records. The page on getting an Asheville Police Department crash report covers one agency in that area.
A crash report written in Wilmington or Asheville moves from the investigating officer to the local agency for that area or to the Division under G.S. 20-166.1(e). None of those steps runs through Graham.
Is it solicitation when an attorney answers the call I made?
Rule 7.3(a) of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct defines solicitation as a communication initiated by the attorney that is directed to a specific person and offers legal services. A call returned after you reached out was not initiated by the attorney.
Comment [1] to Rule 7.3 says a communication is not solicitation when it responds to a request for information. Under Rule 7.3(a), who initiated the contact is part of the definition. The distance between the attorney's office and your home is not part of the test.
Under Rule 7.3(a), who initiated the contact is part of the definition.
An attorney who makes the first live contact stands somewhere else. Under Rule 7.3(b), live person-to-person contact to get work is off limits when pecuniary gain is a significant motive, and the rule's exceptions are narrow ones, such as contact with another attorney or with someone in a family or close personal relationship with the attorney. The order of the first call and the in-person meeting is on the page about how a visit works.
An attorney in another county who calls you back after your request is answering you. Rule 7.3 treats that differently from a call nobody asked for.
A phone or video call first, then a meeting in your county
The first conversation with me happens by phone or video, wherever you live in North Carolina. After that call I can come to you and meet in person, and whether we work together is decided at that meeting.
You reach out from your own county
You or a family member contacts my office in Graham at 336-221-8900. That first contact is by phone or video.
Phone or video before anyone travels
We talk through what happened. The distance between us makes no difference to this part.
An in-person meeting where you are
I can come to you in Wilmington, in Asheville or in another county this site serves.
The decision belongs to that meeting
Whether we work together is settled in person and not on the first call.
Rule 1.18 protects what you say on the first call
Rule 1.18(a) makes a person who consults an attorney about possibly forming a client relationship a prospective client. Under Rule 1.18(b), an attorney who learns information from a prospective client cannot use or reveal it even when no relationship follows, except as Rule 1.9 allows for a former client. Comment [2] to Rule 1.18 says that written, oral or electronic communications can be a consultation, depending on the circumstances.
Rule 1.4(a)(3) and (a)(4) require an attorney to keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter and to promptly comply with reasonable requests for information. Rule 1.4 names no distance. The post on the first meeting with an injury attorney covers what that meeting looks like.
