E-filing Registration Guide
The Office of Administrative Hearings' (OAH) e-filing system is online and available to registered users to access their contested case through our website. You can register to use the e-filing system by going to the OAH e-filing log-in page, click on “Not Registered? Click Here,” fill out the registration form information, and click “Submit.” You will be notified by email once OAH approves your registration. Once approved, you can log in with your primary email account and password and then view cases to which you are a party, but you must be a party to the case in order to access the case files.
Using the system, you will be able to upload and file documents in any case to which you are a party, as well as being able to view all documents and information in those case files for all cases filed after January 1, 2016. For all cases filed prior to January 1, 2016, the docket entries and files will not be available online as the official record for these cases remains the paper file. You can also make any required contested case payments, such as filing fees, through a third party payment site using MasterCard or Visa.
You will find that the e-filing system is quite intuitive and easy to use. There is a registration guide and a “Q&A” below. Please review these prior to your registration and contact the Clerk’s office at 984-236-1850 or oah.clerks@oah.nc.gov if you have additional questions.
Registration Guide
Please enter the following information on the registration page and follow these general format rules:
- do not capitalize all text, but use standard mixed-case entry
- do not use periods after abbreviations or initials
- after your registration is accepted, please keep all information current
Name – First, Middle, Last, Suffix. Full names are used to avoid duplication in the system. Here are some examples – James Earl Jones, Billy John Sims Jr, William F Johnson, Jean A Smith-Johns or Jerry Wilson III. If your first name is not commonly used, enter the initial plus your common name such as “F James” in the first name box.
Firm/or other Entity. Enter your law firm name if you are a private Attorney or your firm name or agency if you represent a firm or State agency. This entry is optional.
Position Title. Enter your title if you represent a firm or agency. This entry is optional.
Address, City, State, ZIP. Enter your full mailing address. This is where postal mail notifications will be delivered if required (default delivery is to your email account).
Phone/Ext, Alternate Phone/Ext. Enter your daytime phone number where you can be reached during normal business hours and an alternate number. Provide the phone extension if there is one. The alternate phone number entry is optional.
Primary Email. This is the address email notifications will be sent to and is also your user ID to log into the system.
Secondary Emails. Additional notification email addresses 1 & 2 can be used to provide notifications to additional accounts, such as an office assistant. Users of the secondary email accounts cannot log into the system. These entries are optional.
Bar Number. All North Carolina attorneys must enter their State bar number in the appropriate box.
Password/Confirm. Enter your password in the password and confirm boxes. Passwords must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least 1 upper case letter (cannot be 1st character), 1 lower case letter, 1 number and 1 special character.
Reminder Hint/Answer. Enter a reminder hint such as “my first public school” and the answer to the hint in the answer box. If you forget your password and request it to be reset, the hint will be shown and you must provide the exact answer.
When completed, click the Submit button. If required information is incomplete, a message will appear (“please correct the errors indicated on the page”) and a red exclamation mark will appear next to each box which requires correction. After correcting the information, click the Submit button again.
Important: You are responsible for your password privacy and security. Your password hint question and answer should not be obvious or easily guessed and the hint should not be the same as the answer. If you suspect your account has been compromised, immediately change your password and your hint question/answer.
Frequently-Asked Questions about OAH E-filing
1. I have an assistant. Should they register also?
No, if they register, they will not be privileged to see any case content or be able to submit any documents because they will not be a party to the case.
2. How do I include an assistant in my registration so they can view cases and submit documents?
Provide the assistant’s email information in the Secondary Email box. They will receive all email notifications that you receive. To view and submit documents on your behalf, you would need to give them access to your account.
3. How do I share access to a case for multiple people within an organization?
You can use a general email account as the primary account and share that with others in the organization. Otherwise, all submissions will go exclusively through the registrant.
4. If I changed my email address, what do I need to do?
You can log into the system with your old email account name, go to the User Profile screen, and change the Primary Email to your new email address.
5. When I log in, I do not see my case(s). What should I do?
Contact the Clerk’s office at 984-236-1850 and provide your account name and missing case numbers.
6. I want to upload a document for a consolidated case. Do I need to upload for each case in the consolidated group?
Just upload to any one of the consolidated case numbers. The Clerk’s office will apply the document to all the cases when they accept the filing.
7. What type of file can I upload?
Files must be either Word or PDF format and cannot exceed 20MB in size.
8. What is the filing deadline?
Documents must be filed during business hours (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday-Friday, excluding State holidays) or they are considered filed on the next business day.
9. How do I pay a filing fee or bond?
If you are a registered e-filer, you may pay your filing fee by credit or debit card (MasterCard or Visa) through the e-filing website. You can also pay by cash, money order, bank-certified check, or check drawn from an attorney's operating account or trust account (payable to the Office of Administrative Hearings) in person or by mail.