On September 1st, we officially opened our second office in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County. This has been a huge step for us in offering the same dedicated service in Charlotte as we do in Raleigh. With offices in both Raleigh and Charlotte, we now cover the two largest cities in the entire state.

We will be focusing our efforts in Mecklenburg County on Public Record and Document Retrieval, as well as in-depth Court Research. Charlotte has become known as the banking capital of the Southeast and we are thrilled to be able to put our experience in the Research & Retrieval departments to use in a market that will benefit our clients nationwide. If you have a question about our services or what we can offer your firm in Charlotte / Mecklenburg County, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.

As proud as it makes us to now be in two markets, we know that we couldn’t have done it without the constant encouragement and backing of the individuals we work with on a daily basis. Thank you for all of your support along the way. And for those of you that have been “persistently nudging” us in this direction, we are open for business and happily await your orders.

Thanks again,

The entire Black Dog Agency Team

First, you’ll probably notice our agents around town a lot more with giant vinyl magnets on their vehicles. We are planning to order a large shipment of smaller sized magnets, so if you or your firm wants us to send a few over to stick on the office fridge, just let us know.

Next, and the thing we are most excited about, is that in the next few weeks, we will be opening our second office location in Charlotte / Mecklenburg County. We are very excited and will be focusing our efforts on Court and Public Record Research, as well as Document Retrieval. But we will, of course, be offering our full line up of services to anyone who needs them.

Thank you to all those who helped and encouraged us to make the jump in opening another office. We are thrilled to be able to cover the two biggest markets in the state. More information on the new office coming soon.

Last, we’ve had a plan in the works for a while now to publish an all-encompassing guide to North Carolina Court Systems. We are thinking of something along the lines of “The Guide to Getting Things Done in the NC Court Systems as Seen By the Black Dog Agency”. Yea, slightly long, but we’re working on it.

In the meantime, we will be publishing some smaller quick guides that may eventually make their way into the book. So if there’s anything you would really like to see included, please drop us a line.

CIVIL DIVISION FILING FEE CHANGES – Effective July 1st, 2011

• Small Claims Filing — $96.00
• Counterclaims — $96.00
• A&P Summons — $15.00
• District Filing — $150.00
• Counterclaims/Crossclaims — $150.00
• A&P Summons or Endorsements — $15.00
• Motions (that require an NOH; see list below) — $20.00
• Superior Filing — $200.00
• Counterclaims/Crossclaims — $200.00
• A&P Summons or Endorsements — $15.00
• Motions (that require an NOH; see list below) — $20.00
• Divorce Filing — $225.00
• Limited Driving Privilege — $250.00
• Petition for Judicial Review — $200.00
• Business Court Fee — $1000.00
• Pro Hac Vice — $225.00





Types of Motions Where $20.00 Fee Applies:

• Add Additional Party
• Amend
• Change of Venue
• Claim Exemptions
• Compel
• Consolidation
• Contempt
• Continue
• Default Judgement
• Deposition
• Designate a Mediator
• Disburse Funds
• Dismiss (Involuntary)
• Entry of Default
• Ex Parte Restraining
• Exempt from Arbitration
• Exempt/Waive Mediation
• Extension of Time
• Failure to Join Necessary Party
• Failure to State a Claim
• Improper Venue/Division
• Increase Bond
• In the Cause
• In Limine
• Insufficiency of Process
• Insufficiency of Service of Process
• Interplead
• Intervene
• Join
• Judgement On Pleading
• Jury View
• Lack Jurisdiction (Subject Matter)
• Lack Jurisdiction (Person)
• Limit Deposition
• Modification of Alimony
• Modification of Custody
• Modificstion of Support
• Modification of Visitation
• More Definite Statement (Rule 12)
• New Trial
• Objection of Exemptions Claimed
• Other (Describe on Front)
• Preliminary Injunction
• Quash
• Release From Stay of Execution
• Sanctions
• Selection of Mediator by Agreement
• Set Aside
• Sever Issues or Claims
• Show Cause
• Special Practice in NC
• Stay of Execution
• Strike
• Summary Judgement
• Transfer
• Temporary Restraining Order
• Vacate/Modify Judgement or Order
• Withdraw as Counsel




Our agents are in various NC courthouses on a daily basis, so if you ever have any questions about filing fees (or anything related to court procedures), don’t hesitate to contact us at info@blackdoglegal.com or 919-961-2195.

Or you can always leave a comment below and we will answer it as soon as we can.

With the recent changes and fee increases affecting state court offices, we wanted to take a minute to address how this will affect the firms we work with.

We believe that part of what we do as a company is to put a necessary buffer between our clients and the operation issues that take place at the courts. Today, the Wake County Courthouse changed some of its basic procedures and increased fees. Up until now, when we have traveled to the courthouse with documents to file, we have been the ones personally filing and stamping the documents, however, now everything must be filed by a clerk.

The changes in procedure will mean that, in some situations, we will have to spend more time waiting to accomplish the things we were doing on our own before.

All of us at BlackDog have spent a lot of time and effort making relationships with clerks on both the civil and criminal sides. Our relationships with clerks will allow us to bypass certain problems and issues that will probably slow others down. We are extremely dedicated to keep any effects from the recent changes to a minimum.

We will also be posting all of the newly increased and updated fees on our site over the next few days.

If you have any issues or questions about the new procedures, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@blackdoglegal.com or 919-961-2195 and we will answer any questions you may have.

The BlackDog Team

We are looking for an extremely motivated worker who is interested in becoming future management in our small company. We always lean towards current law or criminal justice students that want to learn every intricacy of the legal system and how things work on a day-to-day basis.

Over the first few weeks you will be learning the ins and outs of the local, state and federal level court systems as well as getting acquainted with day-to-day interaction with our clients. After that, you will spend time acting as a legal courier, court researcher, document retriever and process server. Once we believe you are capable of making on the fly decisions with our companies’ well being in mind, you will have every opportunity to bring in your own new clients and grow right along side our company.

We are not interested in a summer hire. The person we are looking for is somebody who is highly self motivated and can commit to a set schedule over a long term outlook.

If you think you’ll fit with our company and are interested, please provide your contact information, a few lines about your background and what your goals are over the next few months and years. If you insist on it, you can send a resume to info@blackdoglegal.com, but fair warning, your year as a lifeguard at a summer camp isn’t going to help you get a job.

Look forward to hearing from all of you.

We always strive to deliver the most seamless and headache free services to our clients. One of the services that we offer is Document Retrieval and Court Research and we’ve recently added DropBox as a feature that we believe will increase turnaround time and save on postal mail rates.

DropBox is an application that allows for easy sharing and syncing of files up to 2GB. We use it regularly for clients who need large files copied and delivered immediately.

It works like this: You email us a filled out Order Form that lays out exactly what you need. For the sake of this example, lets say you need 15 files copied from a North Carolina courthouse. We immediately send one of our highly trained and highly capable court researchers to retrieve copies of all the files you have requested. Your files will then be scanned in and deposited into a folder on our system. You will then receive an email invitation from Black Dog asking you to install DropBox. Then you will have access to the file and can transfer it directly to your computer.

Quick and Seamless.

If you have ever have any ideas on we can make our services even more seamless, drop us a line and let us know.

To those of you who have continually asked about Black Dog gear, we have some amazing news for you that will surely make your day (and probably your week). The Black Dog Shop is in the works and should be up very soon. Slight let down, we know, but we are working on the shop and getting items ordered right now.

We wanted to take a second to let everyone know that we really do appreciate all the interest and kind words, and that we plan on delivering on all the promises of amazing Black Dog “stuff”. As of right now, we will be ordering a few types of apparel and various other items that you probably won’t be able to live without.

But we are also very interested in getting some feedback on what items you are looking for. Leave a comment below and let us know what you want to see the most. And no, we won’t be ordering Black Dog frisbees.

But recently, we came upon the realization that for a long time we’ve been answering that question wrong. We were talking with a local business owner who pointed out to us that we were looking at things from the wrong side of the conversation. When people have asked us to explain what we do, we only think about how the things we do effect us, and not our clients.

Yes, we are process servers. Yes, we are researchers, document retrievers and legal couriers, and we are quick to point that out and explain what it means. But those are just words and titles. When looking at it from the other side, we realized that when it comes to our clients, what really matters is that we deliver. And i’m not talking about delivering legal documents (although we do deliver legal documents and for a very competitive rate as a matter of fact), I’m talking about the fact that we “deliver”.

The clients that we have built lasting relationships with and the ones who trust in the job that we do, utilize our services because they know that we deliver when called upon. Across state deliveries, last minute, early mornings, late nights, weekends… if it’s possible for us to get it done, we will. But we never blow smoke either. We will never take on jobs and make promises that we don’t intend to deliver on.

A vast majority of the time, when we take on a job, we succeed. Sometimes we fail. But when we fail, we keep open communication with our customers and explain to them exactly why it was that we didn’t succeed and what the current options are moving forward. Even in our failures, we try our best to create an environment of mutual respect and understanding.

We understand that you are very good at your job and like to make sure things get done a certain way. We know that you’ve worked hours… days… sometimes weeks and months on something for a case and that all of that work may hinge on correctly completing the task you’ve just put in our hands. That is the exact reason that we try to built open and trustworthy relationships with our clients.

So ask us “…what exactly we do?” and we will tell you. We deliver. When no one else can or no one else will, we deliver.

Sometimes what we do can be a little lacking in variety. Being a process server often means long hours and lots of miles on the road. We’ve been all over the state and sometimes we take for granted that our normal workday allows us to see places that you just won’t see in an office building. So recently our agents decided to start documenting the things we see. All of the photos that our agents capture are taken with the camera on our phones (we love iPhones) and are added to the map on our Flickr account.

Now you can experience the state from our perspective. See what we see. Check back for more Photos From the Road to find out where our agents have been.

New Features

• Assign & Track Process Service
• Resources for all 100 Counties in North Carolina
• Instant Updates for Followers
• News & Articles
• Frequently Asked Questions Section

We’ve also added new services focused on Legal Websites & Legal Design. It’s becoming more and more important to present a clear and precise brand to your potential customers and part of delivering that image is having a well designed website. We’ve spent the time to know the firms we work with and we understand your customers and your goals. This gives us a unique advantage to deliver a highly specific message to your potential clients.

Expect articles on everything from the cliches of current Legal Design to how embracing new social media can not only help your image but help bring in new customers.

If you have questions or can’t find the information you are looking for, please let us know. We encourage you to contact us or leave a comment on any post and tell us what you are thinking and what you would like to see.