Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Filing Rules

A counterclaim may be included in the filed Notice of Intention to Appear or a separate pleading using a concise statement of its nature and amount; no reply is required, and any filed reply may be limited to a general denial.

Parties must list all proposed exhibits in the Pretrial Statement and comply with the Court’s Exhibit Section, including advance submission of the required exhibit binder.

When a decedent had both a surviving spouse and issue, the Petition must identify whether the children were the children of both.

A post-trial motion must include a copy of the request for the trial-testimony transcript.

The moving party must promptly ensure that the court reporter is paid on time for preparing the trial transcript.

The notice must be conspicuously posted on a sign at least four feet high and prominently displayed on the front of the dwelling if one exists.

Proof of service must be included with the motion filing.

Motions and petitions must be filed with the Department of Court Records and served on all parties and the court under applicable Pennsylvania and Allegheny County rules.

Before using a prior deposition transcript to impeach a witness, counsel should notify all counsel of the intended deposition and page-and-line references.

Filings must be docketed with the Department of Court Records, served on the opposing party, and emailed to the judicial staff.

Notify the court by replying to the original email chain, copying all parties, when a contested motion becomes uncontested before argument.

Attorneys appearing from outside Allegheny County must contact Chambers promptly when procedural questions arise.

Filings must also be emailed to the judicial staff at amcvay@alleghenycourts.us.

Paul DaChille, the law clerk, may be contacted by email at pd22law@gmail.com.

Emails to the court ordinarily must copy all parties and include the case number in the subject line, except when no other party email address is available online or on the docket.

Depositions and other evidence the court may consider must be filed at least fourteen days before the final argument.

For Housing Court LT jury and non-jury trials, a Motion in Limine must be filed no later than 10 business days before trial.

The non-moving party may file a response no later than 14 days after the moving party files both its motion and brief.

Emergency motions submitted after noon will not receive a same-day decision or be decided before the end of the next business day, and responses are due by noon the next business day.

The non-moving party may file a response no more than fourteen days after the moving party files its motion and brief.

Attachments, supporting documents, and exhibits must be on 8.5-by-11-inch paper when filed with the Department of Court Records.

Electronic exhibits must generally be submitted as PDFs, clearly labeled, and listed on the Exhibit Index in the Exhibit Binder; audio and video exhibits are exempt from the PDF requirement.

A proposed order must be attached separately in Microsoft Word format.

Before trial, each party must prepare a tabbed binder containing all exhibits the party intends to present or introduce into evidence.

Plaintiff exhibit identifications must use Arabic numerals, while Defendant exhibit identifications must use letters.

Beginning November 13, 2023, all legal papers must be filed through the DCR electronic filing system unless an exception or court order applies.

A copy of the motion must be emailed to the court at the two listed email addresses.

Petitions for Settlement Approval must be submitted electronically to Judge Connelly with a proposed order.

An uncontested general asbestos motion may be forwarded to either of Judge Klein's staff members for the judge's signature and filing with the Department of Court Records.

Uncontested asbestos motions and argued general asbestos motions must be submitted by email at least two days before presentation.

The responding party must pay the program fees seven days before the scheduled session.

Each motion in limine and its written response must be delivered as two paper copies to Chambers.

A copy of every contested motion must be provided to the assigned General Motions Judge on the date the motion is noticed for presentation.

Courtesy copies must be emailed at the same time the document is served on the opposing party.

As soon as counsel learns that the case has been assigned for trial, counsel must deliver hard copies of all pretrial motions and briefs to the court’s chambers.

For nonjury-trial exhibits, the witness, opposing counsel, and Court must each receive a copy, and exhibit binders are preferred.

An initial remote conference will be scheduled for each Judge McGinley land-use appeal, followed by issuance of a case-management and briefing schedule.

No oral argument or oral presentation will occur if no written opposition response has been filed by the deadline.

Unless compelling circumstances exist, parties must conduct a meaningful meet and confer before presenting a contested motion to the Discovery Motions Judge.

The parties must meet and confer about resolving any motion in limine before presenting it to the Court.

The parties must meet and confer about resolving motions in limine before presenting them to the Court.

If an exhibit contains confidential information or confidential documents under the Pennsylvania policy, the proponent must file a copy and a compliant certification with the Department of Court Records.

All filings and proceedings must comply with the Case Records Public Access Policy and confidentiality requirements applicable to minors.

The petition and proposed order must be sent to Chambers for review at the same time as the Motion to Seal.

In an arbitration case, filing preliminary objections or scheduling argument after the arbitration hearing does not continue the hearing unless the moving party obtains a continuance under Local Rule 208.3(d).

Additional time must be requested before the applicable deadline expires, unless a consent order is signed.

When an evidentiary issue is anticipated, a party may submit its Motion in Limine with its Pretrial Statement.

Uncontested general asbestos motions do not require a presentation.

Exhibit binders are preferred, but alternatives for voluminous exhibits will be reviewed at the pretrial conference.

Using binders for trial exhibits is preferred.

Neither party’s exceptions brief may exceed 10 pages.

Each party has a total of ten minutes to argue its motion.

In Center cases assigned to Judge McGinley, primary briefs are limited to 35 pages and responsive or secondary briefs to 20 pages unless the court grants leave.