When I received a call from an insured asking whether discovery requests had to be served through Odyssey, my first thought was that discovery requests are not filed. Odyssey comes into play when one is filing documents, so Odyssey does not apply to the service of discovery. 

Obviously, that’s wrong. But maybe some of you have had the same thought. 

North Carolina fully implemented the eCourts conversion in all 100 counties as of October 13, 2025. So, all North Carolina counties use the Odyssey Electronic Filing and Case Management System. 

Now is a good time to reinforce something that might not have been apparent to everyone, including me, about the service of discovery. 

Rule 5 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, entitled “Service and filing of pleadings and other papers,” requires service of discovery on a party’s attorney of record to be made through the court’s electronic filing system (Odyssey) at an email address of record with the court. (As the title implies, Rule 5 applies to more than discovery requests, but I have chosen to discuss discovery requests because it is an area that, in my experience, has created problems.) 

Service on an unrepresented party must be accomplished through Odyssey at the email address of record with the court if the party has consented to receive service through Odyssey and a copy of the consent is filed with the court by any party. Without that written consent, an alternative method of service must be employed. 

Why can’t I just send my discovery requests to opposing counsel via email or U.S. Mail, as I’ve always done, you ask? You can, and that might work, but if they don’t answer the requests, and you file a motion to compel discovery, you might waste a lot of time and effort only to be told by a judge that the opposing party does not have to answer your discovery requests because you did not serve the discovery requests properly. 

To avoid issues, it’s probably a good idea to serve lawyers and parties with “courtesy copies” of discovery via mail, email, or fax, even when service is required to be performed through Odyssey.