Reserved.
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Local Rules
(a) Civil complaints filed by prisoners seeking in forma pauperis status under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 are subject to the provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA"). In order to promote the speedy, just and efficient administration of civil rights complaints subject to the PLRA, the court has established forms to be used by prisoners for filing civil rights actions. The prisoner/plaintiff should complete and file the court-approved forms when initiating a civil complaint.
(b) The court-approved forms consist of (1) a cover sheet, (2) a complaint, (3) an application to proceed in forma pauperis, and (4) an authorization form. The authorization form, when completed by the plaintiff, directs the agency holding the plaintiff in custody to forward to the clerk of court a certified copy of the plaintiff's institutional trust fund account and to disburse from the plaintiff's account the full statutory filing fee in amounts specified by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b). Forms may be obtained from the clerk of court.
(c) Properly completing and filing the authorization form satisfies the plaintiff's obligation under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) to submit a certified copy of the plaintiff's trust fund account with the complaint.
For local rule regarding filing in forma pauperis in a Habeas Corpus action, see LR 83.32.3.
Papers or other documents filed in this court, except original or true copies of exhibits, shall be on paper approximating eight and one-half (8½) inches by eleven (11) inches in size. Any paper or other document filed shall be sufficient as to format and other physical characteristics if it substantially complies with the following requirements:
(a) Prepared on white paper (except for covers, dividers, and similar sheets) of good quality with typed or printed matter six and one-half (6½) inches by nine and one-half (9½) inches.
(b) The first sheet of any paper or other document that is not filed electronically shall contain a three (3) inch space from the top of the paper for all court stampings, filing notices, etc.
(c) The lettering or typeface shall be clearly legible and shall not be smaller than 14 point word processing font or, if typewritten, shall not be smaller than pica. The text must be double-spaced, but quotations more than two lines long may be indented and single-spaced. Headings and footnotes may be single-spaced. The font type and size used in footnotes shall be the same as that used in the body of the brief. Margins must be at least one inch on all four sides. Page numbers shall be placed in the margins, but no text may appear there.
(d) The lettering or typeface shall be on only one (1) side of a page.
(e) All papers and other documents filed in this court shall be securely fastened with a paper clip, binder clip or rubber band. The use of plastic strips, staples or other such fasteners is prohibited, with the exception that administrative and judicial records may be firmly bound.
(f) Exhibits to a brief or motion shall accompany the brief or motion, but shall not be attached to or bound with the brief or motion. Exhibits shall be secured separately, using either lettered or numbered separator pages to separate and identify each exhibit. Each exhibit also shall be identified by letter or number on the top right hand corner of the first page of the exhibit. Exhibits in support of a pleading or other paper shall accompany the pleading or other paper but shall not be physically bound thereto. In all instances where more than one exhibit is part of the same filing, there shall be a table of contents for the exhibits.
(g) A proposed order shall accompany each motion or other request for relief, but shall not be fastened together.
(h) Each motion and each brief shall be a separate document.
(i) Exceptions to the provisions of this rule may be made only upon motion and for good cause or in the case of papers filed by a pro se litigant.
(a) As to any document required or permitted to be filed with the court in paper form, only the original shall be filed with the clerk except that parties shall file an original and one copy of any document in excess of 200 pages.
(b) Any document signed by an attorney for filing shall contain under the signature line the name, address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address (if applicable) and Pennsylvania or other state bar identification number. When listing the bar identification number, the state’s postal abbreviation shall be used as a prefix (e.g., PA 12345, NY 246810).
(c) Documents shall not be faxed to a judge without prior leave of court. Documents shall not be faxed to the clerk’s office, except in the event of a technical failure with the court’s Electronic Case Filing (“ECF”) system. Technical Failure is defined as a malfunction of court owned/leased hardware, software, and/or telecommunications facility which results in the inability of a Filing User to submit a filing electronically. Technical failure does not include malfunctioning of a Filing User’s equipment.
(d) A filed document in a case (other than a social security case) shall not contain any of the personal data identifiers listed in this rule unless permitted by an order of the court or unless redacted in conformity with this rule. The personal data identifiers covered by this rule and the required redactions are as follows:
1. Social Security Numbers. If an individual’s Social Security Number must be included in a document, only the last four digits of that number shall be used;
2. Names of minor children. If the involvement of a minor child must be mentioned, only that child’s initials shall be used;
3. Dates of birth. If an individual’s date of birth must be included, only the year shall be used;
4. Financial account numbers. If financial account numbers must be included, only the last four digits shall be used.
Additional personal data identifier in a criminal case document only:
5. Home addresses. If a home address must be included, only the city and state shall be listed.
(e) A party wishing to file a document containing the personal data identifiers listed above may file in addition to the required redacted document:
1. a sealed and otherwise identical document containing the unredacted personal data identifiers, or
2. a reference list under seal. The reference list shall contain the complete personal data identifier(s) and the redacted identifier(s) used in its(their) place in the filing. All references in the case to the redacted identifiers included in the reference list will be construed to refer to the corresponding complete personal data identifier. The reference list must be filed under seal, and may be amended as of right.
The sealed unredacted version of the document or the sealed reference list shall be retained by the court as a part of the record.
The responsibility for redacting these personal identifiers rests solely with counsel and the parties. The clerk will not review each document for redaction.
After a case is assigned to a judge, all documents filed must include that judge's name in parenthesis directly below the case number.
(a) The parties in pro se cases, Health and Human Services cases (Social Security Appeals), and U.S. Government loan cases shall not be obligated to meet and confer prior to instituting discovery. Discovery shall commence no later than thirty (30) days from the date the complaint is served upon the defendant(s).
(b) Interrogatories, requests for disclosures, requests for documents, requests for admissions, and answers and responses thereto shall be served upon other counsel and parties but shall not be filed with the court except as authorized by a provision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or upon an order of the court. The party responsible for serving a discovery request shall retain and become the custodian of the original response. Proof of service or certificates of service of discovery material shall not be filed separately with the clerk. The original transcript or recording of any deposition upon oral examination shall be retained by the party who arranged for the transcript or the recording.
(c) If relief is sought under any of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a copy of the discovery matters in dispute shall be filed with the court contemporaneously with any motion filed under these rules by the party seeking to invoke the court's relief.
(d) When documentation of discovery not previously in the record is needed for appeal purposes, upon an application and order of the court or by stipulation of counsel, the necessary discovery papers shall be filed with the clerk.
For local rule on form of service of interrogatories, see LR 33.1.
Any document required or permitted to be filed shall be filed electronically and shall be signed and verified by electronic means to the extent and in the manner authorized by the court’s Standing Order regarding Electronic Case Filing Policies and Procedures and the ECF User Manual, except that a pro se litigant who is not a registered user of the court’s Electronic Case Filing system shall file in paper form rather than electronically. An attorney may be granted a reasonable exception from the mandatory electronic filing requirement by the Chief Judge only upon a showing of good cause. A document filed by electronic means in compliance with this Local Rule constitutes a written document for the purposes of applying these Local Rules, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.