Effective January 1, 2016, there will be two major changes in practice and procedure in Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. The first change relates to any new lawsuits filed on or after January 1, 2016. The second change relates to lawsuits that have a docket number of 2010 or earlier.
Lawsuits filed on or after January 1, 2016
Montgomery County has enacted a new Local Rule of Civil Procedure 200 entitled Trial Readiness. Rule 200 implements a monumental change in the practice and procedure in Montgomery County. Traditionally, Montgomery County has been attorney driven. Now, Montgomery County is moving to a Court driven system.
Rule 200 divides cases into two categories, Arbitration and Non-Arbitration cases. In both cases, there will be a period of time where the case will still be attorney driven. However, the Court will intervene after nine months in an Arbitration case and eighteen months in a Non-Arbitration case.
After nine months/Arbitration cases and eighteen months/Non-Arbitration cases, the case will be scheduled for a Case Management Conference before one of the six Court appointed Attorney Case Managers. At the Case Management Conference, there will be settlement discussion and then a case management deadline will be imposed, no more than 60 additional days for Arbitration cases and no more than 120 additional days for Non-Arbitration cases. Then the case will automatically be placed either in the Arbitration pool or the Trial pool.
As a result of the change in the Rules for cases filed on or after January 1, 2016, defense counsel now must be proactive in commencing and completing discovery. The Court will not grant extensions of the Case Management Order that is issued, nine months after filing the Arbitration case and eighteen months after the filing of the Non-Arbitration case unless there are extraordinary circumstances.
Cases Praeiped for Trial with a 2010 or Earlier Docket Number
Previously, any case praeciped for trial in Montgomery County was scheduled for a Pre-Trial Conference before the Trial Judge. The Trial Judge would engage in settlement discussions and if the case was not settled they would provide you with a date certain for trial. Now, the Court is no longer conducting Pre-Trial Conferences on cases that have been praeciped for Trial that have a docket number that is 2010 or earlier. Rather, parties will receive an Order advising that they are in a one month trial pool and can be called for Trial within 48 hours notice. The Order will provide a thirty (30) day deadline for filing Pre-Trial Statements, Motions in Limine, for exchange of trial exhibits and in Jury Trial cases for submission of proposed voir dire and points for charge.
This is a significant change from the current procedure as it relates to cases that are 2010 or earlier. Many time issues can be addressed at the Pre-Trial Conference and there will no longer be a Pre-Trial Conference. Additionally, the Trial Judge will have little, if any information, regarding the nature of the case prior to the Trial.
Two Years of Docket Inactivity
Any time there is two years of lack of docket activity a notice is sent out by the Prothonotary requesting that a party file an Active Status Certificate. If an Active Status Certificate is filed, Montgomery County is now calling the parties in either before a Judge or now before a Case Manager to schedule deadlines, engage in settlement discussions and determine what additional discovery is needed to move the case forward.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
