Rule Text
The Prothonotary shall maintain offices in the cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. All matters within the jurisdiction of the court may be initially filed in any such office. The Prothonotary may direct the parties to file documents in a specified office. A document thereafter filed in an improper office shall be transferred to the proper office as if pursuant to Rule 751 (transfer of erroneously filed cases). See also Rule 2703 (erroneously filed cases).
Amendment history: The provisions of this Rule 3301 adopted May 16, 1979, effective September 30, 1979, 9 Pa.B. 1740, amended May 24, 1979, effective September 21, 1979, 9 Pa.B. 1853; amended February 27, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 1038, effective date as set forth at 10 Pa.B. 1038. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (43089).
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has a clerk's office called the Prothonotary, with three locations: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg. You can start your case by filing papers at any of these three offices.
After you file, the Prothonotary may tell you to use a specific office for future documents. If you then file papers at the wrong office, those papers will be moved to the correct office automatically. This transfer process follows the same rules that apply to cases filed in the wrong court.
Committee Notes
The amendments to this chapter abolish the division of the Commonwealth into Eastern, Middle and Western Districts and the related January, May and March Term system. The present offices will continue to exist and will be available for filings. The distribution of cases among the offices will be an administrative matter. If the Prothonotary determines to warehouse a case file in Philadelphia, for example, the Prothonotary may direct the lower court to send the record and related papers to, and the parties to file their briefs in, Philadelphia. The references in the rule to Rules 751 and 2703 are intended by analogy to permit the Prothonotary to enforce this requirement by imposing nonrecoverable costs in an amount equal to the filing fee for an appeal. Similarly, the scheduling of the location of oral argument will be an administrative decision, taken after consideration of such factors as the length of the lists in the respective cities, the age of the case, the preferences of the parties, etc. Former Rule 3304 (form of papers) is now covered by Rule 124 (a) (size and other physical characteristics).
