Rule 77 Conducting Business; Clerk’s Authority; Notice of an Order or Judgment
TITLE X. SUPERIOR COURT AND CLERK
Rule Text
(a) WHEN THE SUPERIOR COURT IS OPEN. The Superior Court is considered always open for filing any paper, issuing and returning process, making a motion, or entering an order.
(b) PLACE FOR TRIAL AND OTHER PROCEEDINGS. Every trial on the merits must be conducted in open court and, so far as convenient, in a regular courtroom. Any other act or proceeding may be done or conducted by a judge in chambers, without the attendance of the clerk or other court official, and anywhere inside or outside the District of Columbia. But no hearing—other than one ex parte—may be conducted outside the District of Columbia unless all affected parties consent.
(c) CLERK’S OFFICE HOURS; CLERK’S ORDERS.
(1) Hours. The clerk's office—with a clerk or deputy on duty to assist the public—must be open during normal business hours as set by the Chief Judge. When practicable, those hours will comport with the hours of operation posted on the Superior Court’s website.
(2) Orders. Subject to the court’s power to suspend, alter or rescind the clerk’s action for good cause, the clerk may:
(A) issue process;
(B) grant applications under Rule 54-II(b);
(C) enter a default;
(D) enter a default judgment under Rule 55(b)(1); and
(E) act on any other matter that does not require the court’s action.
(d) SERVING NOTICE OF AN ORDER OR JUDGMENT.
(1) Service. Immediately after entering an order or judgment, the clerk must serve notice of the entry, as provided in Rule 5(b), on each party who is not in default for failing to appear. The clerk must record the service on the docket. A party also may serve notice of the entry as provided in Rule 5(b).
(2) Time to Appeal Not Affected by Lack of Notice. Lack of notice of the entry does not affect the time for appeal or relieve—or authorize the court to relieve—a party for failing to appeal within the time allowed, except as allowed by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Rules.
(3) Who Can Perform the Clerk’s Function. Nothing in this rule precludes a judge or magistrate judge or his or her authorized staff member from performing the function of the clerk prescribed in Rule 77(d).