THE COURTS
Title 249—PHILADELPHIA
RULES
Philadelphia Municipal Court; General Court Regulation No. 2009-01; In Re: Adoption of Municipal Court Rule of Civil Procedure 205.4—Mandatory Electronic Filing
[39 Pa.B. 6727]
[Saturday, November 28, 2009]
Order And Now, this 13th day of November 2009, the Board of Judges of Municipal Court having voted at the Board of Judges' meeting held on November 6, 2009, to adopt Municipal Court Rule of Civil Procedure 205.4 It Is Hereby Ordered that Municipal Court Rule of Civil Procedure 205.4 is adopted as attached hereto.
This General Court Regulation is issued in accordance with Pa.R.C.P. 239 and shall become effective thirty (30) days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. As required by Rule 239, the original General Court Regulation shall be filed with the Prothonotary in a Docket maintained for General Court Regulations issued by the President Judge of the Municipal Court of Philadelphia, and copies shall be submitted to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts for publication on its web site, and the Civil Procedural Rules Committee. Copies of the Order shall also be submitted to American Lawyer Media, The Legal Intelligencer, Jenkins Memorial Law Library, and the Law Library for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and posted on the web site of the First Judicial District: http://courts.phila.gov.
By the Court
HONORABLE MARSHA H. NEIFIELD,
President Judge
Philadelphia Municipal Court—Civil Division Rule 205.4. Mandatory Electronic Filing.
a. All legal papers filed in the Civil Division of the Philadelphia Municipal Court shall be electronically recorded in the CLAIMS System.
b. Legal papers that are presented in hard-copy format for recording in the CLAIMS System must conform to the following requirements:
1) Legal papers must not be stapled or permanently bound.
2) Legal papers must be secured by binder clips or other fasteners that do not puncture the paper or otherwise interfere with scanning.
3) The court will ordinarily scan legal papers in the form that they are presented. The filer of legal papers is responsible for the redaction of any personal information that is not intended to be scanned and available for review by the public.
4) To avoid scanning errors, exhibit separator pages must be used instead of exhibit tabs.
c. Legal papers presented electronically for recording in the CLAIMS System, must conform to the following requirements:
1) All legal papers must be in PDF or a compatible format.
2) All legal papers must be 8 1/2 inches in width.
3) No security devices, passwords or other restrictions may be used.
d. After legal papers are filed with the court, a filing party seeking to make any changes or amendments to those legal papers must file a Petition to Amend seeking leave of the court to make such changes or amendments. A copy of the amended legal paper shall be attached to the Petition to Amend.
e. CLAIMS System registration
1) Persons licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who are not registered on the CLAIMS System shall file legal papers in the First Filing Office. At the time of that initial filing, they shall register to be a user of the CLAIMS System and shall obtain a password. The court reserves the right not to accept at the First Filing Office the filing of legal papers after the initial filing of legal papers if a person licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania fails to register on the CLAIMS System.
2) Attorneys registered on the CLAIMS System shall file all legal papers from their remote location in the manner set forth in the CLAIMS System Manual, which is available on the court's web site (http://courts.phila. gov).
3) Persons not licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are not permitted to register as a user of the CLAIMS System and are limited to filing four (4) cases per day through the Court's on-site interviewers in the First Filing Office. They may access docket information through the CLAIMS System's public portal. The portal may be found at http://fjd.phila.gov. Once on the site, dockets may be accessed by clicking the ''Online Services'' link and then ''MC Civil Docket Search'' on the drop-down menu.
f. Payment of costs
1) Attorneys registered on the CLAIMS System shall pay costs by using a VISA, American Express, Master Card and Discover credit card through the fee administrator at the time of filing.
2) Persons filing legal papers in the First Filing Office shall pay costs to the Cashier using cash, a VISA, American Express, Master Card and Discover credit card, or a business check at the time of filing.
3) Payment by advance deposit is not permissible.
g. Service of legal papers shall be the responsibility of the filing party in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure and the court's local rules.
Explanatory Note: In accordance with Pa.R.C.P. 205.4(a)(1) and 239, this Rule sets forth the requirements for electronic filing in the Philadelphia Municipal Court. Rule 205.4(a)(2) provides definitions of ''electronic filing,'' ''filing party'' and ''legal paper.'' Those terms are used in the above local rule and the definitions of those terms found in Rule 205.4(a)(2) are incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, the CLAIMS System is the electronic program designed and developed for the Philadelphia Municipal Court.
The above local Rule was adopted by the Board of Judges of the Philadelphia Municipal Court on November 6, 2009.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 09-2171. Filed for public inspection November 25, 2009, 9:00 a.m.]
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