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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 14-2425

THE COURTS

Title 255—LOCAL
COURT RULES

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

Local Rule 205.4; Civil Term No. 96-1335 Civil

[44 Pa.B. 7354]
[Saturday, November 22, 2014]

Order

 And Now, this 30th day of October, 2014, and effective December 1, 2014, or thirty (30) days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, the Cumberland County Local Rules of Court are amended as follows:

Rule 205.4. Electronic Filing and Service of Legal Papers Filed in the Civil Trial Division.

 (a)(1) The Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas does hereby permit electronic filing of all legal papers with the Prothonotary through its Electronic Filing System, as well as the electronic service of such papers, under terms more specifically provided in Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 205.4 and Cumberland County Rule of Procedure 205.4.

 The Prothonotary's Office will provide the necessary technical assistance to those parties who lack the capability to file legal papers electronically.

 (2) As used in this rule, the following words shall have the following meanings: ''electronic filing'' shall be the electronic transmission of legal papers by means other than facsimile transmission; ''filing party'' shall be an attorney, party or other person who files a legal paper by means of electronic filing; and ''legal paper'' shall be a pleading or other paper filed with the Prothonotary in any civil action, including attachments and exhibits, even if the legal papers are not adversarial in nature or do not require a response from the non-filing party or parties.

 (b) Legal papers shall be presented for filing in a portable document format (''PDF''). As authorized by Pa.R.C.P. 205.4(b)(1), in the event a legal paper is presented for filing in a hard-copy format or an electronic format other than a PDF, the Prothonotary shall convert said legal paper into a PDF and shall maintain it in that format. The Prothonotary shall return the hard-copy legal paper to the filing party for retention as required by Pa.R.C.P. 205.4(b)(4).

 (c)(1) The Prothonotary shall provide access to its Electronic Filing System at all times, except during periods of required maintenance.

 (2) All legal papers shall be filed electronically through the Electronic Filing System, which will be accessible through the Cumberland County website, www.ccpa.net/prothonotary. To obtain access to the Electronic Filing System, counsel or any unrepresented party must first register with the Prothonotary's Office for a User Name and Password.

 (3) The time and date of filing a legal paper and any receipt of the legal paper filed electronically shall be that registered by the Electronic Filing System. The Prothonotary shall provide, through the Electronic Filing System's website, an acknowledgement that the legal paper has been received, including the date and time of receipt, in a form which can be printed for retention by the filing party.

 (d) A filing party shall pay the cost of the electronic filing of a legal paper by approved credit or debit card, or by advance deposit of sufficient funds with the Prothonotary. The following cards have been approved for payment of the electronic filing: American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa.

 (e)(1) A filing party shall be responsible for any delay, disruption, interruption of the electronic signals and legibility of the document electronically filed, except when caused by the failure of the Electronic Filing System's website.

 (2) No pleading or other legal paper that complies with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure shall be refused for filing by the Prothonotary or the Electronic Filing System based upon a requirement of a local rule or local administrative procedure or practice pertaining to the electronic filing of legal papers.

 (3) If a pleading or other legal paper is not accepted upon presentation for filing or is refused for filing by the Electronic Filing System, the Prothonotary by email, or the Electronic Filing System, as may be appropriate, shall immediately notify the party presenting the legal paper for filing of the date of presentation, the fact that the document was not accepted or refused for filing by the system, and the reason therefor.

 (4)(i) The Court upon motion shall resolve any dispute arising under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision.

 (ii) If a party makes a good faith effort to electronically file a legal paper but it is not received, accepted or filed by the Electronic Filing System, the Court may order that the paper be accepted and filed nunc pro tunc upon a showing that reasonable efforts were made to timely present and file the paper.

 (f) As authorized by Pa.R.C.P. 205.4(f), the following administrative procedures are adopted:

 (1) The electronic filing of legal papers using an authorized User Name and Password shall constitute the filing party's signature on electronic documents as provided by Pa.R.C.P. 1023.1 and, if the filing party is an attorney, shall constitute a certification of authorization to file it as provided in Pa.R.C.P. 205.1.

 (2) Verification of pleadings, as required by Pa.R.C.P. 206.3 and 1024, as well as any other documents executed by the client or third parties, such as Affidavits or Certificates of Service, shall be scanned and attached to the electronic filing in a PDF at the time the legal paper is submitted for electronic filing.

 (3) Personal Identifiers in civil matters, such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, financial account numbers and names of minor children, shall be modified or partially redacted in all documents electronically filed in the office. When necessary, the Prothonotary shall obtain a hard copy of the unredacted information and maintain such information in a closed folder for inspection by the Court; such unredacted information shall not be made available on the Electronic Case Filing System.

 (4) The Prothonotary is authorized to refuse for filing a legal paper submitted without the requisite filing fee; such legal paper shall only be deemed to have been filed on the date that said filing fee payment was received by the Prothonotary.

 (5) Neither the Court nor the Prothonotary shall be required to maintain a hard copy of any legal paper, notice or Order filed or maintained electronically under this Rule.

 (g)(1) Copies of all legal papers other than original process filed in an action or served upon any party to an action may be served:

 (i) as provided by Rule 440; or

 (ii) by electronic transmission, other than facsimile transmission, to all parties who have previously submitted electronic filing in the same case, pursuant to Cumberland County Civil Rule 205.4 and Pa.R.C.P. 205.4(g).

 (2) Service by electronic transmission is complete when a legal paper is sent:

 (i) to the recipient's electronic mail address, or

 (ii) to an electronic filing system website and an e-mail message is sent to the recipient by the electronic filing system that the legal paper has been filed and is available for review on the system's website.

 Note: Upon the electronic filing of a legal paper other than original process, the electronic filing system may automatically send notice of the filing to all parties who have agreed to service by electronic transmission or whose e-mail address is included on an appearance or prior legal paper filed in connection with the action. If the electronic filing system sends notice of such filing, the party filing the legal paper only need serve those parties who are not served by the electronic filing system.

 An electronic mail address set forth on letterhead is not a sufficient basis under this rule to permit electronic service of legal papers.

 (3) Copies of all Notice, Orders or Judgments from the Court in any action shall be served by electronic transmission through the Electronic Filing System to all parties who have previously submitted electronic filings in the same case. In the event that a party or parties have not yet submitted electronic filing in a particular case, then the Prothonotary shall provide notice by facsimile, other electronic means or by forwarding a hard copy to said party or parties.

 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 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

KEVIN A. HESS, 
President Judge

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 14-2425. Filed for public inspection November 21, 2014, 9:00 a.m.]


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