Rule Text
(a) Where a case is called for trial, if without satisfactory excuse a plaintiff is not ready the court may enter a nonsuit on motion of the defendant or a non pros on the court’s own motion.
(b) If without satisfactory excuse a defendant is not ready, the plaintiff may
(1) proceed to trial, or,
(2) if the case called for trial is an appeal from compulsory arbitration, either proceed to trial or request the court to dismiss the appeal and reinstate the arbitration award.
(c) A party who fails to appear for trial shall be deemed to be not ready without satisfactory excuse.
Amendment history: The provisions of this Rule 218 amended April 23, 1985, effective July 1, 1985, 15 Pa.B. 1727; amended April 4, 1990, effective July 1, 1990, 20 Pa.B. 2279; amended March 1, 1993, effective July 1, 1993, 23 Pa.B. 1300; amended July 30, 1998, effective January 1, 1999, 28 Pa.B. 3930. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (200238).
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
When your case is called for trial, you must be ready to go. If you are the plaintiff (the person who filed the case) and you are not ready without a good reason, the judge can dismiss your case. This dismissal can happen because the defendant asks for it or because the judge decides to do it on their own.
If you are the defendant and you are not ready without a good reason, the plaintiff gets to choose what happens next. The plaintiff can go ahead with the trial, or in certain cases that came from arbitration, the plaintiff can ask the court to throw out your appeal and bring back the original arbitration decision.
Not showing up to trial at all counts as not being ready, no matter what. There is no automatic excuse for simply not appearing.
Committee Notes
See Rule 1007.1(c)(2) for withdrawal of demand for trial by jury when a party who has filed a demand therefor fails to appear or is not ready.
The mere failure to appear for trial is a ground for the entry of a nonsuit or a judgment of nonpros or the reinstatement of a compulsory arbitration award.
A nonsuit is subject to the filing of a motion under Rule 227.1(a)(3) for post-trial relief to remove the nonsuit and a judgment of non pros is subject to the filing of a petition under Rule 3051 for relief from a judgment of non pros.
A decision of the court following a trial at which the defendant failed to appear is subject to the filing of a motion for post-trial relief which may include a request for a new trial on the ground of a satisfactory excuse for the defendant’s failure to appear.
