Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Document Format Requirements

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Sep 21, 2026CRITICAL

Electronic files must not contain security, passwords, or other restrictions, or they will be rejected.

(3) No security, passwords, or other restrictions may be placed on electronic files. If an electronic file contains passwords or other security devices, it will be rejected;

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Sep 21, 2026CRITICAL

Electronic files must not be modified after creation, as modified filings may be incompatible and rejected.

(4) After an electronic file is created, it must not be modified in any way. If an electronic filing is modified, it may be incompatible with the electronic filing system and will be rejected.

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Format

PDF

All legal papers filed electronically must be in portable document format (PDF).

(b)(1) Authorized Electronic Format of Legal Papers Electronically Filed. All legal papers shall be filed in a portable document format (“pdf”).

Checked against the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Applies to

Legal paper

PDF pages must be exactly 8.5 inches; other sizes may be incompatible with electronic filing.

All PDF pages must be 8 and 1/2 inches in size exactly. Other file sizes may be incompatible with electronic filing;

Checked against the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Applies to

Legal paper

Hard-copy legal papers must be printed on one side only.

all legal papers must be printed on only one side of the paper;

Checked against the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Applies to

Order

Orders must have a 3-inch top space for court stampings and filing notices.

all orders must contain a 3-inch space from the top of the page for all electronic court stampings, filing notices, etc.;

Checked against the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Applies to

Legal paper

Hard-copy legal papers must not be stapled or permanently bound; use binder clips or non-puncturing fasteners.

legal papers must not be stapled or permanently bound, but must be secured by binder clips or other fasteners which do not punctuate or otherwise interfere with scanning;

Checked against the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Applies to

Legal paper

Bar codes on legal papers must be crossed out or redacted.

bar codes on any page of the legal paper interfere with scanning and must therefore be crossed out or otherwise redacted;

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Electronic files must be no larger than 50MB each and must be split if they exceed this limit.

(1) All files must be no larger than 50MB each. If an electronic file exceeds this limit, then it must be split into multiple files;

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

All PDF pages must be exactly 8 1/2 inches in size, as other sizes may be incompatible with electronic filing.

(2) All PDF pages must be 8 and 1/2 inches in size exactly. Other file sizes may be incompatible with electronic filing;

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Hard-copy legal papers must not be stapled or permanently bound; they must be secured by binder clips or non-puncturing fasteners.

(2) legal papers must not be stapled or permanently bound, but must be secured by binder clips or other fasteners which do not punctuate or otherwise interfere with scanning

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Bar codes on any page must be crossed out or redacted because they interfere with scanning.

(3) bar codes on any page of the legal paper interfere with scanning and must therefore be crossed out or otherwise redacted;

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Exhibit separator pages must be used instead of Exhibit tabs to avoid scanning errors.

(4) to avoid scanning errors, Exhibit separator pages must be used instead of Exhibit tabs.

Checked against the court's document on Sep 21, 2026WARNING

Format

PDF

All legal papers shall be filed in either PDF or Microsoft Word document format.

All legal papers shall be filed in either a portable document format (“pdf”) or a Microsoft Word document format.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 4, 2026INFO

Format

PDF

The referenced documents are in Adobe PDF format.

Documents in Adobe PDF format.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

Applies to

Legal paper ?

All files must be no larger than 5MB each. will be subject to a size limitation. The size limitation may be updated from time to time and will be clearly indicated on the file upload screen of the electronic filing system. If an electronic file exceeds this limit, then it must be split into multiple files;

Summary: Electronic files must not exceed 5MB and must be split into multiple files if larger.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

Applies to

Legal paper ?

No security, passwords, or other restrictions may be placed on electronic files. If an electronic file contains passwords or other security devices, it will be rejected;

Summary: Electronic files must not contain passwords or security restrictions; otherwise they will be rejected.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

Applies to

Legal paper ?

After an electronic file is created, it must not be modified in any way. If an electronic filing is modified, it may be incompatible with the electronic filing system and will be rejected.

Summary: Electronic files must not be modified after creation; modification may cause rejection.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

Format

PDF

All legal papers specified above shall be filed in a portable document format (“pdf”).

Summary: All specified legal papers must be filed in PDF format.

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Criminal cases

Format

PDF

All legal papers electronically filed must be filed in a pdf and shall be maintained and retained by the Office of Judicial Records in an electronic format. Neither the Office of Judicial Records nor the court is required to maintain a hard copy of any legal paper filed electronically as provided in this rule.

Summary: All electronically filed legal papers must be filed as PDFs, retained electronically, and the court is not required to maintain a paper copy.

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Civil cases

Required

Always ?

All PDF pages must be 8 and 1/2 inches in size exactly. Other file sizes may be incompatible with electronic filing;

Summary: All PDF pages must be exactly 8.5 inches in size.

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Civil cases

Required

Always ?

No security, passwords or other restrictions may be placed on electronic files. If an electronic file contains passwords or other security devices, it will be rejected;

Summary: Electronic files must not contain security, passwords, or other restrictions; such files will be rejected.

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Civil cases

Required

Always ?

All files must be no larger than 5MB each. If an electronic file exceeds this limit, then it must be split into multiple files;

Summary: Electronic files must not exceed 5MB each and must be split into multiple files if larger.

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Civil cases

Required

Always ?

After an electronic file is created, it must not be modified in any way. If an electronic filing is modified, it may be incompatible with the electronic filing system and will be rejected.

Summary: Electronic files must not be modified after creation; modified filings may be rejected.

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Civil cases

Required

Always ?

Format

PDF

All legal papers shall be filed in a portable document format ("pdf"). As authorized by Pa.R.C.P. No. 205.4 (b)(1), in the event any legal paper or exhibit is submitted to the Office of Judicial Records in a hard-copy format, the Office of Judicial Records shall convert and maintain such legal paper or exhibit to a portable document format, and the Office of Judicial Records shall return the hard-copy legal paper or exhibit to the filing party for retention as required by Pa.R.C.P. No. 205.4(b)(5).

Summary: All legal papers must be filed in PDF format; hard-copy submissions are converted to PDF by the Office of Judicial Records and returned to the filing party.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.WARNING?

Applies to

Legal paper ?

to avoid scanning errors, Exhibit separator pages must be used instead of Exhibit tabs.

Summary: Use exhibit separator pages instead of exhibit tabs for hard-copy filings.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.WARNING?

(1) all orders must contain a 3-inch space from the top of the page for all electronic court stampings, filing notices, etc.;

Summary: All hard-copy orders must contain a 3-inch space from the top of the page for court stampings and filing notices.

We could not find this wording in the court's document. Open the source before relying on it.WARNING?

Additionally, all proposed orders submitted with pleadings, motions, and stipulations requiring judicial approval shall also be filed in a Microsoft Word document format.

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Format

PAPER ?

All civil actions shall be commenced by filing a complaint with the Court on printed forms approved by the Municipal Court Administrator and provided by the Court.

Summary: Civil actions must be started by filing a complaint on a standard court-approved form.

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A subpoena to testify or for the production of documents or things shall be in substantially the same form as in the Court of Common Pleas.

Summary: Subpoenas must be in substantially the same form as used in the Court of Common Pleas.

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No facsimile signature may be used to sign the docket of the Traffic Division.

Summary: Facsimile signatures are prohibited when signing the Traffic Division docket.

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Civil cases

Required

Always ?

all legal papers must be printed on only one side of the paper;

Summary: Hard-copy legal papers must be printed on only one side of the paper.

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Civil cases

all orders must contain a 3-inch space from the top of the page for all electronic court stampings, filing notices, etc.;

Summary: All orders must contain a 3-inch space from the top of the page for court stampings and filing notices.

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Civil cases

Required

Always ?

legal papers must not be stapled or permanently bound, but must be secured by binder clips or other fasteners which do not puncture or otherwise interfere with scanning;

Summary: Legal papers must not be stapled or permanently bound; use binder clips or non-puncturing fasteners.

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Civil cases

Required

Always ?

bar codes on any page of the legal paper interfere with scanning and must therefore be crossed out or otherwise redacted;

Summary: Bar codes on legal papers must be crossed out or redacted as they interfere with scanning.

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Civil cases

to avoid scanning errors, Exhibit separator pages must be used instead of Exhibit tabs.

Summary: Exhibit separator pages must be used instead of Exhibit tabs to avoid scanning errors.

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Civil cases

Briefs or memoranda of law shall be typewritten, printed or otherwise duplicated, and endorsed with the name of the case, the court term and number, and the name, address, and electronic mail address of the attorney or the party if not represented by an attorney.

Summary: Briefs must be typewritten, printed, or otherwise duplicated, and endorsed with the case name, court term and number, and the attorney's or party's name, address, and email.

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Civil cases

The case caption shall appear below the attorney address at the left-hand margin of the page with the proper Court Term and Number appearing to the right-hand margin.

Summary: The case caption must appear below the attorney address at the left margin, with the Court Term and Number at the right margin.

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Civil cases

In the event the Petition is filed in the Orphans’ Court Division, the caption must comply with Pa.O.C. 3.2.

Summary: If filed in the Orphans’ Court Division, the petition's caption must comply with Pa.O.C. 3.2.

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Civil cases

(C) The filing party shall maintain the original paper copy of any legal paper that is electronically filed and shall file the original with the Office of Judicial Records if requested pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. No. 205.4(b)(2) (ii).

Summary: For each e-filed legal paper, the filing party must retain the original paper copy and produce it to the Office of Judicial Records on request.

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Any filing with the Court, by an attorney admitted to practice in the courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, not requiring the signature of, or law by a judge prior to court and to read the Municipal Court Administrator or other appropriate officer designated by the court administrator, accompanied by the filing fee and if mailed, a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Summary: Mailed filings must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.