S.C. Sup. Ct. Order (Rule 262 E-Filing and Service, 2022)

The Supreme Court of South Carolina

Re: Methods of Electronic Filing and Service Under Rule

262 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules (As

Amended April 24, 2024)

Appellate Case No. 2020-000447

ORDER

(a) Purpose. Pursuant to Rule 262(a)(3) and (c)(3) of the South Carolina

Appellate Court Rules (SCACR), this Court may by order establish methods for

the electronic filing and service of documents. For the purpose of this order,

"Appellate Court" means the Supreme Court of South Carolina or the South

Carolina Court of Appeals.

(b) Electronic Methods of Filing. Filings with an appellate court may be made

electronically using the methods listed below.

(1) Electronic Filing by Lawyers. Lawyers who are licensed to practice

law in South Carolina may utilize OneDrive for Business to electronically

submit documents for filing with the Supreme Court and the Court of

Appeals, and lawyers are strongly encouraged to use this method of filing.

More information about this method, including registration and filing

instructions, is available in the Attorney Information System

(https://ais.sccourts.org/AIS) under the tab "Appellate Filings." A document

filed by this method must be in Adobe Acrobat portable document format

(.pdf).

(2) Filing by E-mail. Filings may be made by e-mail. For the Supreme

Court, the e-mail shall be sent to supctfilings@sccourts.org; for the Court of

Appeals, the e-mail shall be sent to ctappfilings@sccourts.org. This method

may not be suitable for large documents, and if it becomes necessary to split

a document into multiple parts, the e-mail shall identify the part being sent

(i.e., Record on Appeal, Part 1 of 4). A document filed by this method must

be in Adobe Acrobat portable document format (.pdf). Filers shall not utilize

any other file format or a file-sharing service when e-mailing documents for

filing. The clerk of the appellate court may reject any document submitted

by e-mail in a format other than .pdf or using a file-sharing service.

(3) Faxing Documents. A document may be filed by an electronically

transmitted facsimile copy.1 While this method is well suited for relatively

small documents, depending primarily upon the limitations of the sending

fax machine, it may not be possible to send large documents, such as a

record on appeal, in a single transmission. If it becomes necessary to split a

document into multiple parts to make the fax transmission, a separate cover

sheet should be used on each part to identify the document (i.e., Brief of

Appellant, Part 1 of 4). In the event the facsimile copy is not sufficiently

legible, the clerk of the appellate court may require the party to provide a

copy by mail.

(c) Filing Date and Payment of Fees for Documents Filed Electronically.

When filed using one of the methods specified in (b) above, a document

transmitted and received by 11:59:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, shall be

considered filed on that day. If a filing fee is required for the document, a check or

money order for the fee must be mailed or delivered to the appellate court within

five days of the filing; the case name and the Appellate Case Number, if known,

should be listed on the check or money order.

(d) Electronic Service Using AIS E-mail Address.

(1) Service on Another Lawyer. A lawyer admitted to practice law in

South Carolina may serve a document on another lawyer admitted to

practice law in South Carolina using the lawyer's primary e-mail address

listed in the Attorney Information System (AIS). Documents must be e-

mailed as an attachment in .pdf. In the absence of consent, a lawyer serving

a document by e-mail may not utilize another file format or a file-sharing

service. For documents that are served by e-mail, a copy of the sent e-mail

shall be enclosed with the proof of service, affidavit of service, or certificate

of service for that document. Lawyers are reminded of their obligation under

1

The fax number for the Supreme Court is 803-734-1499. The fax number of the

Court of Appeals is 803-734-1839.

Rule 410(g), SCACR, to ensure that their AIS information is current and

accurate at all times.2

(2) Service by an Appellate Court. An appellate court may send an

order, opinion or other correspondence to a lawyer admitted to practice law

in South Carolina using that lawyer's primary e-mail address in AIS. A self-represented litigant may request the appellate court serve the litigant by e-mail under this provision. Any request must be in writing and must include

the e-mail address for service. It is the responsibility of the self-represented

litigant to immediately inform the appellate court of any change in e-mail

address.

(3) Service on Persons Admitted Pro Hac Vice. For attorneys admitted

pro hac vice under Rule 404, SCACR, service on the associated South

Carolina lawyer using an electronic method permitted by this order shall be

construed as service on the pro hac vice attorney; if appropriate, it is the

responsibility of the associated lawyer to provide a copy to the pro hac vice

attorney.

(4) Service of the Notice of Appeal. In addition to other methods of

service, a party may serve a notice of appeal in accordance with the

provisions of any Electronic Filing Policies and Guidelines, or other similar

rules established by Order of this Court, that permit the electronic filing and

service of documents in a court specified in Rule 203, SCACR. See Rule

203(d)(1), SCACR (requiring the notice of appeal be filed with the clerk of

the lower court). The party shall file a copy of a Notice of Electronic Filing

(NEF), or other similar document, as proof of service of the notice of appeal.

s/ Donald W. Beatty C.J.

s/ John W. Kittredge J.

s/ John Cannon Few J.

2

The primary AIS e-mail address for lawyers admitted to practice in South

Carolina may be obtained using the search function at

https://www.sccourts.org/attorneys/dspSearchAttorneys.cfm. Lawyers may update

their AIS information at https://ais.sccourts.org/AIS.

s/ George C. James, Jr. J.

s/ D. Garrison Hill J.

Columbia, South Carolina

April 24, 2024