THE COURTS
CUMBERLAND COUNTY
Rules of the Court of Common Pleas; No. 96-1335 Civil Term
[34 Pa.B. 4110]
Order of Court And Now, this 22nd day of July, 2004, the following Rules of the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, are hereby promulgated and adopted for use, effective July 26th, 2004, or thirty (30) days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Pursuant to Pa. R.C.P. 239, the Court Administrator is directed to forward seven (7) certified copies of this order to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, two (2) certified copies to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin together with a diskette, formatted in Microsoft Word for Windows reflecting the text in the hard copy version, one (1) copy to the Supreme Court Civil Procedural Rules Committee and/or the Supreme Court Domestic Relations Committee, and one (1) copy to the Cumberland Law Journal.
By the Court
GEORGE E. HOFFER,
President Judge
Proposed Local Rules to be Published in Accordance with Pa.R.C.P. 239(c)(7) Rule 206.1. Petitions
In addition to petitions to open and for non pros, petition practice shall also be applicable to petitions to transfer venue on grounds of forum non conveniens and petitions which seek the issuance of a rule to serve the interest of justice. See Pa.R.C.P. 206.1(a)(2)
Rule 206.4(c). Rules to Show Cause.
Cumberland County hereby adopts Pa.R.C.P. 206.5 as the procedure governing rules to show cause. The issuance of rules to show cause will be discretionary with the court upon presentation of a petition seeking the same.
(1) A petition for a rule to show cause shall be filed with the Prothonotary who shall docket the petition and forward same to the Court Administrator for assignment to a Judge.
(2) Upon a grant of a rule to show cause an order shall be issued in accordance with Pa.R.C.P. 206.5 governing the requirements for an answer, the scheduling of depositions, and the manner in which argument will be schedule.
(3) The procedures with regard to rules to show cause shall also comply with the requirements with respect to motions, generally, set forth in Rule 208.3(a).
Rule 208.2(d). Concurrence of Counsel.
All motions and petitions shall contain a paragraph indicating that the concurrence of any opposing counsel of record was sought and the response of said counsel; provided, that this requirement shall not apply to preliminary objections, motions for judgment on the pleadings, motions for summary judgment, petitions to open or strike judgments, and motions for post-trial relief.
Rule 208.3(a). Motions.
All motions and petitions shall be initially presented to the Prothonotary who shall forward same to the Court Administrator for assignment to a Judge for disposition.
(1) All motions submitted to the Court shall be in writing and shall prominently indicate the individual attorney responsible for the matter. Where that attorney is not the one who personally submits the papers, the names of both attorneys shall be clearly indicated.
(2) The motion shall name each Judge who has ruled upon any other issue on the same or related matter, and shall specify the issue.
(3) A proposed order or decree shall be prepared by counsel and affixed to the front of each petition or motion submitted to the Court. Where the Court cannot make an ex parte determination of the matter, the proposed order shall be in the nature of a rule to show cause why relief sought ought not to be granted.
(4) The Judge to whom a motion has been assigned shall, thereafter, by order, schedule such briefing and argument as shall be deemed necessary.
(5) Except as provided in Rules 1028(c), 1034(a), and 1035.2(a), no petition or motion, including those relating to depositions and discovery, shall be placed on an argument court list unless directed by the Judge assigned thereto.
(6) Where notice of the entry of any order is required under Pa.R.C.P. 236, the petitioner or moving party shall include in the proposed order the names of the persons and/or attorneys who are required to be notified and to provide duplicate copies of the proposed order with stamped envelopes addressed to the said persons and/or attorneys.
(7) All motions regarding discovery in civil cases including, but not limited to, motions to compel, for protective orders, and for sanctions, shall be filed with the Prothonotary who will transmit the motion/petition to the Court Administrator for assignment to a judge. Any answer or response to a discovery order or rule shall be filed, initially, with the Court Administrator who shall refer same to the judge assigned prior to filing with the Prothonotary.
(8) Hybrid Representation. In the event that a party who is represented by counsel of record attempts to file a motion, petition, answer or similar item on his or her own, the court will not docket the item but instead forward it to the counsel of record for such action as he or she deems appropriate on behalf of his or her client.
Rule 1028(c). Preliminary Objections.
All preliminary objections shall be filed with the Cumberland County Prothonotary's Office. Thereafter, the issues raised will be disposed of at regular sessions of argument court, which shall be scheduled as part of the annual court calendar. The procedure for disposition of matters at argument court shall be as follows:
(1) The Prothonotary shall maintain the argument court list.
(2) A case shall be listed by filing a praecipe, in duplicate, with the Prothonotary. The party listing the case for argument shall serve a copy of the praecipe on all counsel or any unrepresented party.
(3) The argument list shall be closed twenty (20) days prior to the date for argument. The list shall then be prepared by the Prothonotary and the cases shall be set out in order of their listing. Upon the closing of the argument list, the Prothonotary shall furnish notification to all attorneys and unrepresented parties, who have cases listed for argument, of the listing by regular mail.
(4) One week prior to argument, the Court Administrator, at the direction of the President Judge, shall prepare the final list of cases to be argued before either a single judge or an en banc panel of two judges, or three judges. The list of assigned cases shall be listed in the Prothonotary's Office and the Law Library six (6) days prior to the date for argument.
(5) A brief with two copies containing a statement of facts, discussion of the issues and reference to all authorities relied upon, shall be filed with the Court Administrator before argument. The party seeking the order shall furnish these briefs and serve a copy of the brief upon opposing counsel or any unrepresented party twelve (12) days before the date set for argument. A responding party shall furnish briefs in a similar manner five (5) days before the date set for argument. Argument may be denied to any party who fails to comply with the filing requirements of this paragraph. If the party seeking the order has not filed a timely brief in accordance with this rule, the Court may deny the relief sought on that basis alone.
(6) Issues raised, but not briefed, shall be deemed abandoned.
(7) References in any brief to parts of the record appearing in a reproduced record shall be to the pages and the lines in the reproduced record where said parts appear, e.g., ''(r. pg. 30 l. 15).'' If references are made in the briefs to parts of the original record not reproduced, the references shall be to the parts of the record involved, e.g., ''(Answer p. 7),'' ''(Motion for Summary Judgment p. 2).''
(8) Counsel or any party presenting oral argument shall be limited to fifteen (15) minutes unless prior permission is granted to extend argument in a complex case.
(9) Prior approval of the Court must be obtained to present cases only on briefs. Any request is to be made to the Court Administrator no later than five (5) days prior to argument. Cases submitted for argument on briefs are subject to the briefing schedule set forth in paragraph (5).
(10) Briefs will not be retained by the Court past the current argument court session. If the case is praeciped for argument but not argued during that session, a new brief will be required when the case is relisted.
(11) All agreements for continuances and/or withdrawals shall be communicated to the Court Administrator no later than seven (7) days prior to argument court.
Rule 1034(a). Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings.
Motions for judgment on the pleadings shall be filed with the Cumberland County Prothonotary's Office and disposed of in the same manner as preliminary objections in accordance with Rule 1028(c).
Rule 1035.2(a). Motions for Summary Judgment.
All motions for summary judgment shall be filed with the Cumberland County Prothonotary's Office and disposed of in the same manner as preliminary objections in accordance with Rule 1028(c).
Note: The foregoing rules 206.1, 206.4(c), 208.2(d), 208.3(a), 1028(c), 1034(a) and 1035.2(a) are promulgated pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 239.1 et seq. These Supreme Court Rules require that courts of common pleas adopt rules with respect to motions practice. The rules, thus adopted, are required to be published on the web site of the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
The foregoing local rules retain current practices and are, to a large extent, existing rules renumbered and reconfigured in accordance with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. These rules are derived from and also rescind existing Cumberland County rules 205-1, 206-1 through 209-2, 210-1 through 210-14, 227.1-1, 227.1-2, and 4001-1.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 04-1433. Filed for public inspection August 6, 2004, 9:00 a.m.]
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