THE COURTS
Title 255--LOCAL
COURT RULES
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Local Civil Rules--Business Courts/Arbitration; No. 2008-1
[38 Pa.B. 2152]
[Saturday, May 10, 2008]
Order And Now, this 21st day of April, 2008; It Is Hereby Ordered that the Washington County Local Rules-Business Courts/Arbitration be amended as follows.
These changes shall become effective thirty days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
DEBBIE O'DELL SENECA,
President Judge
BUSINESS OF COURTS L-212.3 Pre-Trial Conference.
(d) In all jury trials, requests for instructions to the jury, together with citations to legal authorities in support thereof, proposed voir dire questions and jury interrogatories shall be filed and served seven (7) days prior to the scheduled pretrial conference so that the court may address those matters in the event the cause can not be resolved during the conference, unless the court enters a case-specific trial order.
L-220.1 Jury Voir Dire--Civil Litigation.
(a) Voir Dire, Generally. The parties or their attorneys in all civil jury trials shall have the right to question jurors, who are being impaneled with reference to challenges for cause, and for peremptory challenges, and it shall not be necessary to propound questions through the presiding judge, but they shall be asked by the attorneys or by litigants not represented by attorneys.
(b) Confidential Juror Questionnaires. Each prospective juror shall complete and verify a confidential juror information questionnaire. Such confidential questionnaire shall be given to the prospective juror upon reporting to the civil jury courtroom and shall be collected by a court employee who will ensure that each questionnaire is completed. In the event that a prospective juror declines to answer some or all of the questions, the matter will be taken up with the court. At the conclusion of the trial or service by a juror, the original confidential juror information questionnaire and any copies provided to counsel shall be destroyed by a court employee.
(c) Examination of Jurors. Once a panel of prospective jurors is assigned to a particular case for selection, each attorney or unrepresented litigant shall receive one (1) photocopy of each prospective juror's questionnaire on that panel. After counsel have reviewed the questionnaires, the court employee shall inform the jurors of the names and addresses of the parties, the date and place of the accrual of the cause of action, the general nature of the suit, and the names of the witnesses who may be called to testify. Examination of prospective jurors shall then be conducted by counsel under the supervision of a court employee. Counsel will ask questions approved by the court and will utilize the information contained in the questionnaire and may ask pertinent and relevant follow-up questions based on the individual juror's written or verbal responses. There shall be no transcript of the examination conducted by counsel.
(d) Selection of Jurors. Upon conclusion of such examination, counsel shall report to the trial judge those jurors whom they agree may be stricken for cause. If the attorneys are unable to agree that a juror should be stricken for cause, the trial judge shall make the just cause determination and may, along with counsel, question the prospective juror on the record. Counsel shall proceed to exercise their peremptory challenges and the jurors remaining shall be sworn and handled subsequently as a group.
Rule L-229. Discontinuance. Payment of Record Court Costs on Settlement.
Unless all parties agree in writing to the contrary, the settling defendant or defendants in any filed civil action shall pay to the plaintiff record court costs which are specifically defined to be:
1. Initial filing fees;
2. Service of process fees;
3. Costs to settle and discontinue the docket.
MISCELLANEOUS COURT MATTERS Rule L-810. Washington County Civil Litigation Mediation Program.
g. The parties to any case on the civil trial list may at any time by agreement voluntarily submit a case to mediation by the filing of the Civil Litigation Mediation Program Consent Submission Form. These forms are available through the Court Administrator's Office. However, any such submission shall not delay any scheduled trial of the matter. Further, upon motion of any party to submit a case to mediation then on a civil trial list, the Court shall direct the parties to proceed to mediation if the scheduling of the mediation will not delay any scheduled trial in the matter.
h. For all cases which are selected for mandatory mediation and are not either: (1) settled or (2) referred for arbitration or (3) mediated due to the failure of one or more parties to pay the $150.00 mediation fee, those cases, pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 214(2), will be given preference on the trial list. The trial of those cases given preference will be held as soon as is practicable after the date of the settlement/conciliation conference. Cases voluntarily submitted into the Mediation Program will not be given preference on the trial list.
k. Each party to a case selected for mediation will pay a mediation fee of $150.00 to be made payable to the Washington County Civil Litigation Mediation Program Trustee Account and to be submitted to the Court Administrator's Office. For those cases subject to mandatory mediation, the $150.00 mediation fee shall be paid within ten (10) days of the date of the Notice of Scheduling of Settlement/Conciliation Conference. For those cases voluntarily submitted to mediation, the $150.00 mediation fee shall be paid with the filing of the Consent to Submit Case to Civil Litigation Mediation Program. Failure to pay the $150.00 mediation fee shall result in the cancellation of the settlement/conciliation conference and shall subject the offending party to the sanctions set forth in Paragraph (j) of the Mediation Program.
ACTIONS AT LAW Rule L-1302. Arbitrators.
e. Arbitrators shall be paid at the rate of $250.00 per full day of service. In the event that an arbitrator is required to serve more than one day, the Court Administrator shall determine what additional time was required and set compensation with Court approval.
Rule L-1303. Hearing, Notice, Continuance, Call of List.
(a)(1)(i) After the pleadings have been closed for thirty (30) days, any party may initiate arbitration by filing with the Prothonotary a Praecipe for Reference to a Board of Arbitration. The Praecipe for Reference to a Board of Arbitration shall be substantially in the following form:
(Caption)
PRAECIPE FOR REFERENCE TO A BOARD OF ARBITRATION To the Prothonotary:
Kindly refer this matter to a Board of Arbitration. I certify that at least ten (10) days notice of the filing of this Praecipe has been given to all parties to this action.
Date: ______ By __________
Attorney for __________
As noted, the moving party shall notify all other parties or their counsel of their intent to file such Praecipe at least ten (10) days prior to the filing.
(a)(1)(ii) Upon filing of the Praecipe, the Prothonotary shall furnish a copy to the Court Administrator for scheduling.
(a)(2)(i) If a party fails to appear for a scheduled arbitration hearing, the matter may be transferred immediately to a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, for an ex parte hearing on the merits and entry of a non-jury verdict, from which there shall be no right to a trial de novo on appeal.
Note: This Local Rule results in the loss of a right to a trial de novo on appeal, as described in the Local Rule. A dismissal or judgment which results from this Local Rule will be treated as any other final judgment in a civil action, subject to Pa.R.C.P. 227.1.
(a)(2)(ii) A non-jury verdict entered at a hearing held pursuant to Local Rule 1305(a) shall not exceed $50,000 (exclusive of interest and costs) to any party.
(a)(2)(iii). The Hearing Notice issued by the Prothonotary shall state the following:
DUTY TO APPEAR AT ARBITRATION HEARING This matter will be heard by a Board of Arbitrators at the time, date and place specified but, if one or more of the parties is not present at the hearing, the matter may be heard at the same time and date before a judge of the court without the absent party or parties. There is no right to a trial de novo on appeal from a decision entered by a judge.
Notice: You must respond to this complaint within twenty (20) days or a judgment for the amount claimed may be entered against you before the hearing.
If one or more of the parties is not present at the hearing, the matter may be heard immediately before a judge without the absent party or parties. There is no right to a trial de novo on appeal from a decision entered by a judge.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 08-876. Filed for public inspection May 9, 2008, 9:00 a.m.]
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