THE COURTS

Title 255--LOCAL
COURT RULES

DELAWARE COUNTY

Judge Pro Tempore Program; Misc. Doc. No. 82-7677

[28 Pa.B. 2132]

Order

   And Now, to wit, this 14th day of April, 1998, after successful completion of a mandatory Judge Pro Tempore program in 1997, and after agreement between the Bench and the Bar as to the benefits of extending Phase I of the aforementioned program,

   It is hereby Ordered and Decreed that the Settlement Conference Phase is extended and amended, once again utilizing the volunteer services of experienced trial lawyers, from both the plaintiff and the defense bars, who have been or will be designated by the Court to preside as ''Judges Pro Tempore.''

   It is further Ordered that the following procedures and qualifications will be followed with regard to this Settlement Program:

   1.  Duties and Responsibilities of Judges Pro Tempore. The Delaware County Bar Association, with the approval of the Court, will determine the names and number of Judges Pro Tem and the number of cases to be assigned to each Judge Pro Tem once the group of cases is identified by the Court Administrator.

   Said designated judges may conduct conferences for the purpose of settlement and may, thereafter, make appropriate recommendations to this Court.

   2.  Implementation of Program. In order to take part in this Settlement Program, the parties must fulfill the following conditions:

   a.  Only cases which have not yet been assigned to a judge for trial will be considered. However, taking part in this voluntary settlement program will delay neither assignment nor trial of the case.

   b.  A stipulation, the form of which is available in the Office of the Court Administrator and which follows as Exhibit A, must be signed by all attorneys or unrepresented parties, stating that there is agreement to participate in the settlement program and THAT THERE IS A REASONABLE LIKELIHOOD OF SETTLEMENT. The original of the stipulation must be filed of record in the Office of Judicial Support.

   c.  The attorneys/unrepresented parties must complete a settlement memorandum form, the form of which follows as Exhibit B and which is available in the Office of the Court Administrator, to be filed contemporaneously with the aforementioned stipulation.

   d.  Copies of the completed stipulation and settlement memoranda must contemporaneously be filed with the Office of the Court Administrator. ATTENTION CIVIL COURT ADMINISTRATOR JUDGE PRO TEM PROGRAM.

   e.  Once the aforementioned conditions have been met and thereafter have been reviewed and approved by the Court Administrator, assignment of the case will be made to a Judge Pro Tempore within one (1) week.

   f.  From time to time, the President Judge may supplement the program with additional case assignments.

   3.  Settlement Conferences.

   a.  The assigned Judge Pro Tempore will schedule and hold a settlement conference within thirty (30) days after assignment.

   b.  The conference will be scheduled and held at the time and place of choosing of the individual Judge Pro Tempore.

   c.  Once included in the program, the parties will be required to attend the settlement conference. In the event that a defendant is insured, then an authorized claims manager or supervisor of the defendant's insurer, with complete settlement authority and control of the claims file, is required to attend the conference. The conference must also be attended by trial counsel.

   d.  In cases in which the litigants or claims personnel are located out-of-state, those litigants/claims personnel are not required to be present at the settlement conference if this would entail a hardship. However, those litigants/claims personnel must be active participants by telephone (telephone conference call) and continually present throughout the settlement conference. It will not be enough for the litigants/claims personnel to be ''available by telephone''. Please note that, other than in the aforementioned cases, judges pro tempore have no discretion as to whether or not litigants/claims personnel will attend the settlement conference, as this is required by this order.

   e.  The assigned Judge Pro Tempore will submit a Judge Pro Tempore Reporting Form (the form of which follows as Exhibit C) to the Court Administrator within fifteen (15) days after the scheduled conference, advising as to his/her settlement of the case or determination that the case cannot be settled. The Court Administrator will thereafter file the Judge Pro Tempore Reporting Form with the Office of Judicial Support.

   f.  If there is an agreement to settle at the time of the Conference, the plaintiff's counsel will file an Order to Settle, Discontinue and End with the Office of Judicial Support within sixty (60) days of the date of the conference. Plaintiff's counsel is to contemporaneously forward a time-stamped copy of the Order to Settle, Discontinue and End to the Office of the Court Administrator. ATTENTION CIVIL COURT ADMINISTRATOR JUDGE PRO TEM PROGRAM.

   4.  Noncompliance. The judge pro tempore will immediately advise the Court Administrator in writing setting forth the reasons of noncompliance. Failure to comply with the aforementioned conditions will result in immediate withdrawal of the case from the program. No case which has been withdrawn for failure to comply will be eligible for future consideration in the program.

   5.  Changes in Procedure. The procedure set forth herein may be changed from time to time by notice appearing in the Delaware County Legal Journal.

   6.  Effective Date. The within procedure will become effective thirty (30) days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

   As required by Pa.R.C.P. No. 239, the original Order will be filed with the Office of Judicial Support and copies will be submitted to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, the Legislative Reference Bureau and the Civil Procedure Rules Committee. Copies of the Order will also be submitted to Legal Communications, Ltd., The Legal Intelligencer, and the Delaware County Legal Journal.

By the Court

A. LEO SERENI,   
President Judge

Exhibit A

   IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
CIVIL DIVISION--LAW

	:         DOCKET NO.
	:
	:

STIPULATION FOR JUDGE PRO TEMPORE PROGRAM

         It is hereby STIPULATED, by and among all counsel in this matter, namely (fill in names of all attorneys), that:

   1.   All counsel are agreed that we shall fully participate in the Judge Pro Tempore Settlement Program and shall fully comply with all requirements attendant thereto;

   2.   All counsel are in agreement that there is a reasonable likelihood of settlement in the matter, with the assistance of a Judge Pro Tempore; and

   3.   To the best of our knowledge, the above-captioned matter has not yet been assigned to a Judge of Court of Common Pleas for purposes of trial.

         We, the undersigned, therefore request that the Court Administrator assign the above-captioned matter to a Judge Pro Tempore for purposes of a settlement conference.

   Respectfully submitted,         

_________________	_________________
(Plaintiff's counsel)	(Defendant's counsel)
_________________	_________________
(Defendant's counsel)	(Defendant's counsel)

Exhibit B

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
SETTLEMENT MEMORANDUM

 

CASE TYPE (CHECK ONE)
[  ]  ASSAULT, BATTERY	[  ]  BREACH OF CONTRACT
[  ]  PREMISE LIABILITY	[  ]  BREACH OF WARRANTY
[  ]  AUTO NEGLIGENCE BI	[  ]  DECLARATORY JUDGMENT
[  ]  AUTO NEGLIGENCE PROP.	[  ]  LANDLORD TENANT
[  ]  DEFAMATION	[  ]  OTHER
[  ]  LIBEL, SLANDER
[  ]  FALSE IMPRISONMENT
[  ]  OTHER NEGLIGENCE BI
[  ]  OTHER NEGLIGENCE PROP.
TRIAL ATTORNEY	COUNSEL FOR
NAME:	NAME OF PARTY:
ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE NO.
I. D. #

INSURANCE COMPANY:
NAME OF CLAIMS MANAGER OR SUPERVISOR WITH COMPLETE AUTHORITY:
TELEPHONE NO:
DATE OF INJURY:
TOTAL MEDICAL EXPENSES TO DATE:
RECOVERABLE MEDICALS CLAIMED:
TOTAL WAGE LOSS TO DATE:
RECOVERABLE WAGE LOSS CLAIMED:
OTHER DAMAGES:
LOWEST DEMAND TO DATE:
HIGHEST OFFER TO DATE:
ESTIMATED TRIAL TIME BY DAYS:
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF TRIAL WITNESSES:

TYPE OF TRIAL (Please check one)	IF AUTO (Please check one)
[  ]  JURY TRIAL               [  ]  NON-JURY TRIAL	[  ]  FULL TORT               [  ]  LIMITED TORT

      PLEASE SUBMIT ORIGINAL AND TWO COPIES TO:   COURT ADMINISTRATOR
DELAWARE COUNTY COURTHOUSE
201 WEST FRONT ST.
MEDIA, PA 19063
ATTN:  JUDGE PRO TEM PROGRAM

Exhibit C
 

STATEMENT OF CLAIM OR DEFENSE
I.	SUMMARY STATEMENT OF FACTS:
II.	SUMMARY STATEMENT OF DAMAGES AND RELIEF SOUGHT:
III.	SUMMARY STATEMENT OF DEFENSE:
IV.	OUTSTANDING ISSUES AND MOTIONS INCLUDING DISCOVERY, PLEASE INDICATE MOTION FILING DATE IF APPLICABLE:

__________
TRIAL ATTORNEY

      Please attach additional information, if necessary.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 98-720. Filed for public inspection May 8, 1998, 9:00 a.m.]

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