THE COURTS
Title 249--PHILADELPHIA RULES
PHILADELPHIA COUNTY
Amended Philadelphia Civil Rule *1303(f)
[26 Pa.B. 159]
Order And Now, this 28th day of December, 1995, it is hereby Ordered that Philadelphia Civil Rule *1301(f) Transfer from Major List to Arbitration be amended and the following rule adopted in its place.
EDWARD J. BLAKE,
President JudgePhila. Civ. R. No. *1303.
(f) Transfer From Major List to Arbitration.
(1) By Any Party. [By Plaintiff. When a case is initially filed as a major case and thereafter the plaintiff decides to transfer the case to Compulsory Arbitration, a Praecipe to Transfer from Major to Arbitration must be filed with the Prothonotary. Plaintiff shall indicate on the Praecipe if there is an agreeable date for the Arbitration hearing. If no such date is agreed upon, the Prothonotary shall assign a hearing date no sooner than 60 days after filing of the Praecipe.]
a. Within Six Months of Date of Filing. When a case is initially filed as a major case, plaintiff may, within six (6) months of its commencement, transfer the case to compulsory arbitration without leave of Court by filing a Praecipe with the Prothonotary who shall assign an arbitration hearing no sooner than sixty days hence. Plaintiff must serve notice of the arbitration hearing date upon all counsel of record and any unrepresented parties within forty-eight (48) hours after receipt of the Order scheduling the Arbitration Hearing and shall file an Affidavit of Service with the Prothonotary.
b. After Six Months or Date of Filing. When a case is initially filed as a major case and, after the expiration of six (6) months from the commencement date of the action, any party desires to transfer the case to Compulsory Arbitration, a Petition must be filed with the Prothonotary and Motion Court to Transfer from Major to Arbitration. The Petition shall be assigned to the Supervising Program Judge (defined hereunder). If the Petition to Transfer from Major to Arbitration is granted, the Prothonotary shall assign an Arbitration Hearing no sooner than sixty (60) days hence. Counsel for a party requesting transfer must serve notice of the hearing date up on all counsel of record and any unrepresented parties within forty-eight (48) hours after receipt of the Order scheduling the Arbitration Hearing and shall file an Affidavit of Service with the Prothonotary.
(2) Supervising Program Judge. The Supervising Program Judge for purposes of subsection (1)b. above is defined as the Team Leader of the respective Day Backward or Day Forward Team to which the case is assigned. If the case has not been specifically assigned, the Motion Court Judge will be the Supervising Judge. [By Defendant. If it appears that the amount in controversy does not exceed the arbitration limits, the defendant may transfer the case to the Arbitration Program only by leave of Court.]
(3) By Court. As provided by Pa.R.C.P. No. 1021(d).
Explanatory Note: Pa.R.C.P. No. 1021(d) provides that ''The Court on its own motion or motion of any party may by discovery, pre-trial conference, hearing or otherwise, determine the amount actually in controversy and enter an order of reference to arbitration. [''] The within local rule does not limit the Court from transferring appropriate cases to Compulsory Arbitration.
Adopted by the Board of Judges of Philadelphia County on November 16, 1995.''
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 96-36. Filed for public inspection January 12, 1996, 9:00 a.m.]
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