THE COURTS

Title 255--LOCAL
COURT RULES

LYCOMING COUNTY

Amendments to Rules of Civil Procedure

[29 Pa.B. 449]

Order

   And Now, this 6th day of January, 1999, it is hereby Ordered and Directed as follows:

   1.  Lycoming County Rules of Civil Procedure L206 and L1007 are hereby rescinded.

   2.  New Lycoming County Rules of Civil Procedure L206 and L1007 are hereby promulgated.

   3.  The Prothonotary is directed to:

   a.  File seven (7) certified copies of this order with the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts.

   b.  Distribute two (2) certified copies of this order to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

   c.  File one (1) certified copy of this order with the Pennsylvania Civil Procedural Rules Committee.

   d.  Forward one (1) copy of this order to the Lycoming Reporter for publication therein.

   e.  Forward one (1) copy to the chairman of the Lycoming County Customs and Rules Committee.

   f.  Keep continuously available for public inspection copies of this order.

   4.  The rules revisions approved by this order shall become effective 30 days after their publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

By the Court

CLINTON W. SMITH,   
President Judge

L206.  Motion Procedure.

   A.  Application. The procedure set forth in this rule shall apply to every request for relief, whether by petition, motion, preliminary objection, exception, or stipulation, that the filing party desires to bring before the court or family court hearing officer.

   B.  Cover Sheet.

   1.  A cover sheet substantially in the form set forth in section G of this rule shall be attached to the front of every request for relief to which this rule applies, with the exception of any request for relief on the front of which an applicable Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure requires a specific order or notice to be attached. (See, e.g. Pa.R.C.P. nos. 1910.5, 1910.26, 1915.3.)

   2.  The cover sheet shall be so attached whether or not a rule to show cause is required by Lyc.Co.R.C.P. L206.5. If a cover sheet is not attached as required by this rule, the court will not act upon the request for relief until an appropriate cover sheet is filed. If the filing party does not attach a cover sheet as required by this rule, a cover sheet, along with a copy of the original motion may be filed by any party.

   3.  The cover sheet should be formatted so as to consist of only one page. Captions may be abbreviated. If additional space is necessary to list counsel and unrepresented parties, a separate sheet may be attached.

   NOTE: The use of this cover sheet is also required in orphans' court and criminal court filings; see, Lyc. Co. O.C.R. L3.4 and Lyc. Co. R.Crim.P. L300.

   C.  Filing. Every request for relief to which the rule applies shall be in writing and shall set forth the statute or rule of court relied upon to justify the relief requested. Any such request for relief shall be filed in duplicate with the prothonotary and shall include a certificate of service which shall state the date and manner of service upon the parties or their counsel.

   D.  Proposed Orders. A proposed order granting the relief requested shall be attached to the cover sheet. If required, a proposed rule to show cause shall also be attached.

   E.  Expedited Consideration. If expedited consideration by the court is requested or required by statute or rule of procedure, the reason for such consideration shall be set forth on the cover sheet. Such consideration may be requested if the date of the pretrial conference has been set or if the case has already been pre-tried. The statute or rule under which expedited consideration is required shall be cited.

   F.  Scheduling. The court shall schedule argument, hearing or briefing as required, note the scheduling information on the cover sheet, and issue the scheduling order appearing on the cover sheet. The due dates of briefs, if ordered, shall also be noted on the cover sheet. The prothonotary shall forward the completed cover sheet to the filing party or counsel. The filing party or counsel shall be responsible for identifying all parties or their counsel on the cover sheet and for serving the completed cover sheet upon all parties or their counsel. If a party was not served with a copy of the executed cover sheet as a result of an omission of the filing party, the argument or hearing may be rescheduled or, in the discretion of the court, the request for relief may be denied.

   G.  Form. The form of the cover sheet shall be substantially as follows:

LYCOMING COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
LOCAL RULE L206 COVER SHEET

Caption (may be abbreviated)                                                Docket No. ______
               vs.
                                                                                          Case assigned to Judge _________________

                                                                                                                              [  ] none

1.  Name of filing party _____________________________________

2.  Filing party's attorney _____________________________________

3.  Type of filing _____________________________________

4.	The following is/are required:		6.  Name and addresses of all counsel of record and unrepresented parties (Continue on separate sheet.)
	[  ]	Issuance of a rule to show cause - See Pa.R.C.P. No. 206.5 for form)
	[  ]	Argument
	[  ]	Evidentiary Hearing
	[  ]	Court conference
	[  ]	Entry of order in an uncontested matter or upon agreement of the parties (attach order and all supporting documentation)
	[  ]	Expedited consideration. State the basis:
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
5.	Time required: _________________

ORDER

1.	An ______ argument ______ factual hearing ______ court conference is scheduled for _________________ at ____ m in courtroom no. ____ , Lycoming County Courthouse, Williamsport, PA.
2.	____ Briefs are to be filed by the following dates:
	Filing party _________________ .
	Responding party(ies) _________________ .
3.	____ A rule to show cause or other order is issued as attached.
4.	THE FILING PARTY SHALL SERVE A COPY OF THIS EXECUTED SCHEDULING ORDER ON ALL COUNSEL OR UNREPRESENTED PARTIES AND ALSO ON ___________________________ .
_________________         ______
Judge                                          Date
cc:	All parties
	Court Scheduling Technician

L1007.  Commencement of Action. Case Scheduling.

   A.  This rule applies to all civil actions, except domestic relations cases, whether commenced by complaint, writ of summons, appeal from the decision of a local administrative agency, municipality or board of viewers, or other appropriate filing initiating an action.

   1.  When filed, every complaint, writ of summons, appeal or, any other matter requiring a trial or arbitration hearing, shall be accompanied by two copies of the initial case monitoring notice which shall be substantially in the form set forth under section D of this rule.

   2.  The initial case monitoring notice shall not exceed one page. If necessary, the caption may be abbreviated to accommodate this requirement.

   3.  After the initial case monitoring notice is filed, the prothonotary shall note the docket number thereon and immediately forward one copy to the court administrator who shall, within thirty (30) days:

   a.  assign a judge;

   b.  set a case scheduling conference for no sooner than ninety (90) days after the filing of the action; except that no case scheduling conference will be scheduled for those cases being processed on an administrative track, which shall be scheduled for trial pursuant to section B of this rule;

   c.  have the judge execute the order;

   d.  attach a list of the assigned judge's future trial terms; and

   e.  return the executed scheduling order to the prothonotary.

   4.  The prothonotary shall transmit a copy of the order and attached trial term list to plaintiff's/appellant's lawyer (or plaintiff/appellant if unrepresented).

   5.  Upon receiving the executed order, plaintiff's/appellant's attorney (or plaintiff/appellant if unrepresented) shall immediately serve a copy of the order upon all counsel or unrepresented parties.

   6.  In a case where all parties are represented by counsel, counsel shall make every effort to agree to a case scheduling order prior to the date of the case scheduling conference. Any such agreed-upon proposed order shall be filed prior to the date scheduled for the case scheduling conference. The attorney for plaintiff/appellant shall be responsible to initiate the effort to secure agreement on an order and to see that it is filed at the earliest possible date. The proposed order, when filed, shall be accompanied by a Rule L206 cover sheet with a request for the entry of an uncontested order.

   7.  If a case scheduling order is agreed upon, it shall establish a proposed trial term and pre-trial conference dates, as well as deadlines for discovery, dispositive motions and for the exchange of expert reports. The dates shall be based upon the assigned judge's trial term list and the guidelines set forth in subsection A.8 of this rule. The scheduling order shall be substantially in the form provided by section E of this rule.

   8.  The agreed upon trial term or arbitration listing shall ordinarily comply with the following guidelines:

   a.  Arbitration limits case - the arbitration to occur within six (6) to twelve (12) months after the first defendant is served.

   b.  Normal track - the trial to occur between twelve (12) and eighteen (18) months after the first defendant is served. Most cases will be considered normal.

   c.  Complex track - the trial to occur between eighteen (18) and twenty-four (24) months after the first defendant is served.

   9.  Case Scheduling Conference.

   a.  The case scheduling conference will occur as scheduled if:

   1.  the parties cannot agree to a case scheduling order;

   2.  the court does not accept the parties' proposed case scheduling order; or

   3.  the proposed order is not filed in a timely manner.

   b.  After the case scheduling conference, the court shall issue a case scheduling order.

   c.  Any party may, at any time, file a written request for a case scheduling conference if it appears that a revision of the case scheduling order is required.

   B.  Administrative Track Exceptions. The procedures set forth in section A of this rule that relate to a scheduling conference (e.g. sections 3b, 6, 7, 8 and 10) shall not apply to mortgage foreclosure cases, landlord/tenant cases appealed from a decision of a district justice, appeals from administrative agencies, municipal code appeals, appeals of decisions of board of viewers, or other cases assigned to the administrative track by the trial judge. Actions of this type shall be governed by the procedures set forth in this section.

   1.  In all actions governed by this section, the initial case monitoring notice shall include a request for the court to list the action for trial and shall include a proposed scheduling order directing the court administrator to list the case in accordance with this section.

   2.  When an action is listed for trial under the administrative track as provided by this section, the action shall either be placed on the trial list for the first trial term occurring more than ninety (90) days after the order is executed, or by direction of the court, be scheduled for a prompt conference. A case scheduling order will be issued in compliance with the time limits of this section.

   3.  All discovery in cases processed under this track must be completed not less than fourteen (14) days prior to the pre-trial conference.

   4.  In actions involving requests for declaratory relief under Pa.R.C.P. 1601 et seq., which do not involve a jury trial, the court may, upon the joint request of all parties, assign the action to the administrative track.

   C.  Injunction Exception. The initial case monitoring notice is not required to be filed with an initial filing of an action in equity which seeks special relief under Pa.R.C.P. nos. 1530-33 (such as a request for an ex parte injunction, special injunction or preliminary injunction hearing after notice to the other party). In such cases the initial filing shall be accompanied by a Rule L206 cover sheet and, if appropriate, a rule to show cause. Upon completion of the initial proceedings, the court may issue an appropriate scheduling order or set a scheduling conference date as may be appropriate under section A of this rule.

   D.  The form of the initial case monitoring notice shall be substantially as follows:

			:  IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
Plaintiff			:  LYCOMING COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
		vs.	:  DOCKET NO:
Defendant			:  CIVIL ACTION - [LAW] [EQUITY]
INITIAL CASE MONITORING NOTICE AND ORDER
1.  Plaintiff(s) by _________________ hereby gives notice that this matter was commenced on the date (Attorney) of ______ by ______ complaint ______ writ of summons ______ other (specify):
2.  Plaintiff requests the case be processed under the Court's civil case management rules as follows (check one):
	_____ ARBITRATION (Damages of $25,000 or less; hearing in 6-12 months)
	_____ NORMAL TRACK (Trial in 12-18 months)
	_____ COMPLEX TRACK (Trial in 18-24 months)
	_____ ADMINISTRATIVE TRACK - (List for first trial term after 90 days; qualifying under Rule L1007B.)
ORDER
1. (a) ______		A case scheduling conference is scheduled for _________________ , at ______ , ______ .M., in courtroom no. ____ ; the parties or their counsel shall attend. Plaintiff shall initiate discussions on a case scheduling order, in compliance with Lyc. Co. R.C.P. L1007A. (Please see attached listing of trial term dates.) An agreed-upon proposed case scheduling order may be filed as soon as possible, but must be filed before the date of the scheduled conference.
(b) ______		The court administrator is directed to place this case on the next trial list occurring more than 90 days after the date of this order pursuant to Lyc. Co. R.C.P. L1007B.
2.  PLAINTIFF SHALL IMMEDIATELY SERVE A COPY OF THIS ORDER UPON ALL OTHER PARTIES OR THEIR ATTORNEYS AND FILE PROOF OF TIMELY SERVICE.
_________________   ______
Judge                                 Date
cc:	Eileen A. Grimes, CST
	_________________ , Esquire
	_________________ , Esquire
E.  The form of the scheduling order shall be substantially as follows:
Plaintiff;			:  IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
			:  LYCOMING COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
			:
	vs.		:  NO.
			:
Defendant;			:  CIVIL ACTION - LAW
SCHEDULING ORDER
	AND NOW, upon agreement of the parties, it is ORDERED AND DIRECTED as follows:
1.	This is a ____ JURY ____ NON-JURY ____ ARBITRATION LIMITS case.
2.	Case monitoring tracks: ____ NORMAL, ____ COMPLEX, ____ ADMINISTRATIVE
3.	(a)  Trial for this case will be in the term of ___________________________ .
	(b)  Pre-trial conference dates are: ___________________________ . The court scheduling technician will schedule the exact date and time by future notice.
4.	The case will be listed for arbitration on or after _________________ .
5.	The cut-off date for discovery will be ___________________________ .
6.	Expert reports shall be furnished as follows:
	(a)  By plaintiff(s) ___________________________ .
	(b)  By defendant(s) ___________________________ .
7	The cut-off date for filing dispositive motions will be _________________ .
8.	(a)  The parties agree to use an alternative dispute resolution ____ YES ____ NO.
	(b)  If yes, ADR will be completed by ___________________________ .
9.	This order cancels the case scheduling conference which had previously been scheduled for the date of _____________________________________ .
10.	Other _____________________________________ .
_________________ ,   ______
Judge                                 Date
cc:	Eileen A. Grimes, Court Scheduling Technician
	_________________ , Esquire
	_________________ , Esquire
	Pro se party's name and address

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 99-112. Filed for public inspection January 22, 1999, 9:00 a.m.]

---

No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.

---