Lancaster Cnty. C.P. Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 208.3(c)

A. Purpose of Rule. It is the intention of this Rule that discovery motion

practice be expedited and that discovery motions and responses be concise.

B. Discovery Motions Judge. Every discovery motion shall be presented to

the Discovery Motions Judge. Discovery Motions Court shall be held at 1:30 p.m. on

Friday afternoons or as scheduled by the Discovery Motions Judge.

C. Contents of Motion. Every discovery motion shall contain the following:

1. A concise statement describing the nature of the case.

2. A concise statement of the status of any discovery procedure

involved.

3. A copy of the specific discovery request and response, if any, in

dispute.

4. A statement of the relief requested and a citation to the statute,

procedural rule or other authority for the relief requested.

5. A statement identifying all other parties and their counsel, with

mailing addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses.

6. If necessary, a request for the suspension of discovery until the

dispute is resolved.

7. A certification that the parties, after reasonable effort, are unable to

resolve the dispute.

8. A proposed rule or order.

D. Notice and Service.

1. A copy of the discovery motion, along with notice of when it will be

presented, shall be served upon all parties no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday

preceding the scheduled court date. Discovery motions shall not be filed or

presented to the Court in any fashion other than to the Discovery Motions Judge.

The moving party shall present an original and one copy of the motion to the Court.

2. If service of the motion is made by first class mail, the mailing must

be postmarked no later than Friday preceding the scheduled court date. In the

event of a Monday holiday, service, if sent by mail, shall be postmarked by the

preceding Thursday. Hand delivery of the motion may be made until 5:00 p.m. on

the Tuesday preceding the scheduled court date. The parties may serve

discovery motions by email, provided that receipt of the email by all other parties

is confirmed by the serving party. The serving party shall attach proof of service

to the discovery motion. Failure to serve the motion and notice shall be grounds

for dismissal.

E. Briefs. Briefs are not permitted unless directed by the Court.

F. Responses. Any party may submit a response to the discovery motion.

The response shall not exceed five pages. The response shall be provided to Chambers

by 5:00 p.m. on the Thursday preceding the scheduled court date. Affidavits, discovery

responses, references to depositions, transcripts or other documents responsive to the

discovery motion shall not be included in the response but may be referenced during oral

argument.

G. Scheduling. Arguments on discovery motions shall be scheduled at ten

minute intervals. Counsel seeking to list a motion for argument shall contact the

Discovery Motions Judge chambers no later than noon on the Tuesday immediately

preceding the requested court date by telephone or email to dmc@co.lancaster.pa.us.

The assignment of all discovery motions to an argument date and time will be made by

the Discovery Motions Judge. A list of cases scheduled for argument may be viewed on

the Court’s online Case Scheduling Calendar

(http://courtcal.co.lancaster.pa.us/CourtAdmin.Public/).

H. Filing. All orders signed in the courtroom shall be returned to counsel for

filing with the Prothonotary. It shall be the responsibility of the attorney receiving the

order to promptly file the order and receive a date stamped copy. Orders shall not be

effective and enforceable until they are clocked in and docketed by the Prothonotary. If

the discovery motions court does not rule on a matter in the courtroom but instead

chooses to take the matter under advisement, chambers shall ensure the filing of any

subsequent order.

Revised 12-5-24 Effective 3-10-25