Beginning with filings on or after 1/1/2026, the Civil Division has implemented case management procedures for General Docket “GD” cases requiring the completion of a Case Summary Memorandum, the attendance of counsel and/or unrepresented litigants at a Case Management Conference, and the issuance of a Case Management Order which provides case event deadlines and an anticipated trial term.
Case Management Local Rule Resources
Case Management Rule Changes Published in PA Bulletin
Individual Local Rule Changes (all represented in above link)
- Local Rule 212.1 General Pre-Trial Information and Procedure
- Local Rule 214 Issue Docket, Trial Lists and Trials
- Local Rule 1001 Civil Actions Raising Claims for Relief Heretofore Asserted in an Action in Equity
- Local Rule 4003.5 Requests for Expert Reports in Professional Liability and Product Liability Actions
Case Management System Administrative Orders
- Administrative Order AD-25-353-CI Case Management System Local Rules
- Administrative Order AD-25-352-CI Confidential Filing of the Case Summary Memorandum
Overview of the Case Management Rules and Process:
The Civil Division will implement a comprehensive Case Management System (“CMS”) beginning January 1, 2026. The new CMS will apply to general docket cases filed after 1/1/2026 and where a complaint is filed, the CMS will require early case management conferences, resulting in case management orders that set deadlines for discovery, filing of dispositive motions, pretrial statements and trial terms.
For cases filed after January 1, 2026, the Division is eliminating the existing “Praecipe to Place Case at Issue” requirement. Instead, after completing a Case Summary Memorandum and participating in a Case Management Conference, cases will proceed to a trial term. This will represent a significant improvement in how civil cases flow through the court system and aligns with the goal to have a court-driven system rather than an attorney-driven system.
Under the new rules upon filing of the complaint, the plaintiff will receive an order requiring plaintiff to file a Case Summary Memorandum and scheduling a Case Management Conference where the court and parties will establish deadlines, explore settlement options, and consider alternative dispute resolution taking into consideration the facts and nature of the case. Following this conference, the court issues a Case Management Order that sets specific deadlines for discovery, pre-trial statements, summary judgment/judgment on the pleadings motions, mandatory mediation, and assigns the case to a specific trial term.
The new rules also streamline how parties can request changes to court-imposed deadlines as follows:
- Uncontested motions regarding trial continuances and modifications to the case management order will go directly to civiluncontestedcmo@alleghenycourts.us
- Contested motions require the moving party to make a good faith attempt to meet and confer with opposing counsel first
- The Calendar Control Judge will handle all scheduling modifications
Cases filed before January 1, 2026, will continue to follow the existing praecipe system. Trial lists will continue to be published in the Pittsburgh Legal Journal approximately six months before each trial term, and the court will maintain its current schedule of five trial terms per year (January, March, May, September, and November).
Certain case types will bypass this new system:
- Eminent domain cases
- Name change petitions
- Asbestos cases (managed by separate administrative order)
- Cases specially assigned to individual judges
Two additional minor amendments are needed to align other rules with the new system. Local Rule 1001 (Equitable Relief) will require parties to request individual judicial assignment at the time of filing the Case Summary Memorandum and Case Management Conference rather than when filing a praecipe to place case at issue. Local Rule 4003.5(7)(a) shifts the timing for requesting priority placement on trial lists (for professional liability and product liability cases) from the praecipe filing to the Case Summary Memorandum filing and Case Management Conference.