Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 24, June 15, 2024
Rule 121 - Filing and Service(a)Filing.-Papers required or permitted to be filed in an appellate court shall be filed with the prothonotary. Filing may be accomplished by mail addressed to the prothonotary, but except as otherwise provided by these rules, filing shall not be timely unless the papers are received by the prothonotary within the time fixed for filing. If an application under these rules requests relief which may be granted by a single judge, a judge in extraordinary circumstances may permit the application and any related papers to be filed with that judge. In that event the judge shall note thereon the date of filing and shall thereafter transmit such papers to the clerk.(b)Service of all papers required.-Copies of all papers filed by any party and not required by these rules to be served by the prothonotary shall, concurrently with their filing, be served by a party or person acting on behalf of that party or person on all other parties to the matter. Service on a party represented by counsel shall be made on counsel.(c)Manner of service.-Service may be:(1) by personal service, which includes delivery of the copy to a clerk or other responsible person at the office of the person served, but does not include inter-office mail;(2) by first class, express, or priority United States Postal Service mail, which service is complete upon mailing;(3) by commercial carrier with delivery intended to be at least as expeditious as first class mail if the carrier can verify the date of delivery to it; or(4) by facsimile or e-mail with the agreement of the party being served as stated in the certificate of service.(d)Proof of service.-Papers presented for filing shall contain an acknowledgement of service by the person served or proof of service certified by the person who made service. Acknowledgement or proof of service may appear on or be affixed to the papers filed. The clerk may permit papers to be filed without acknowledgement or proof of service but shall require such to be filed promptly thereafter.(e)Additional time after service by mail and commercial carrier.-Whenever a party is required or permitted to do an act within a prescribed period after service of a paper upon that party (other than an order of a court or other government unit) and the paper is served by United States mail or by commercial carrier, three days shall be added to the prescribed period.(f)Date of filing for incarcerated persons.-A pro se filing submitted by a person incarcerated in a correctional facility is deemed filed as of the date of the prison postmark or the date the filing was delivered to the prison authorities for purposes of mailing as documented by a properly executed prisoner cash slip or other reasonably verifiable evidence.(g)Hybrid representation.-Where there is counsel of record, a party may file only the following documents pro se: (ii) a request to change or remove counsel;(iii) a response to a motion to withdraw that has been filed by counsel of record;(iv) a complaint that existing counsel has abandoned the party; or(v) an application to file a petition for allowance of appeal nunc pro tunc. Any other document that a party attempts to file pro se will be noted on the docket but not accepted for filing. This rule is not intended to provide an independent basis for jurisdiction where it does not otherwise exist.The provisions of this Rule 121 amended July 7, 1997, effective in 60 days, 27 Pa.B. 3503; amended March 15, 2004, effective 60 days after adoption, 34 Pa.B. 1670; amended September 10, 2008, effective 12/1/2008, 38 Pa.B. 5257; amended April 9, 2012, effective in 30 days, 42 Pa.B. 2269; amended January 7, 2020, effective 5/1/2020, 50 Pa.B. 535; amended January 7, 2020, effective 8/1/2020, 50 Pa.B. 505.