(1)Issuance.The issuance of a Rule Cause for petitions governed by Rule 206.1, et seq., shall issue as a matter of course pursuant to Rule 206.6.Petitions governed by this Rule shall not be faced with a cover sheet of moving party, but rather shall be accompanied by a proposed order in the following form:
The Petition and proposed order shall be filed in the Prothonotary’s Office. And forwarded to the Court Administrator, who shall have the authority to sign the Rule to Show
Cause Order.
If a petitioner requests a stay of execution pending disposition of a petition to open default judgment, or any other petition governed by this rule, the Court Administrator shall promptly refer the stay request to the Civil/Equity/emergency Judge for review and determination.
(2)Praecipe. After the filing of respondent’s answers and/or the completion of discovery, any party may file with the Prothonotary, in duplicate, a praecipe for argument in the form set for the herein, including a certification that a copy thereof has been served upon all other parties.If the respondent does not file an answer to the petition within the timeframe outlined in the proposed order, petitioners may, by checking the appropriate box on the argument praecipe, request the court to consider the petition without the need for briefs, and enter an appropriate order in accordance with Rule 206.7 (a)
The Prothonotary shall forthwith deliver a copy of the praecipe to court Administration.
(3)Briefs.The brief of the moving party shall be filed in the Prothonotary’sOffice within thirty (30) days of the filing of the praecipe for argument, unless otherwise directly by the assigned Judge.The brief of the respondent shall be filed within thirty (30) days of the date of the filing of the moving party’s brief.
If the brief of either party is not timely filed, either in accordance with this Rule of by order of the Court, the assigned Judge may:
(a)Dismiss the petition where the moving party has failed to comply;
(b)Grant the requested relief where the respondent has failed to comply, except that no civil action or proceeding shall be dismissed for failure to comply;
(c)List the matter for argument, at which time only the complying party shall be heard; or
(d)Impose such other sanctions upon the non-complying party as the Judge shall deem proper.
(4)Disposition. Once brief’s are filed, the matter shall be referred to the assigned Judge for disposition.If oral argument is requested by either party on either their respective cover sheets or the argument praecipe, the matter shall then be scheduled for argument.If oral argument is not requested by either party, the assigned Judge may direct the scheduling of argument, or may simply decide the matter upon the filings.
