Rule 77.Superior Courts; Prothonotaries, records and exhibits, fees

Rule 77 opens by declaring the Superior Court "always open" for business — each term runs until the court formally opens the next one, and only trials on the merits have to happen in open court, in a regular courtroom so far as that's convenient. Everything else — other acts or proceedings — a judge can handle in chambers, without the Prothonotary or other court staff present, at the judge's discretion. Once the court enters an order or judgment, the Prothonotary has to mail notice of it to every party who isn't in default for failing to appear, and note that mailing in the docket. That mailing satisfies notice for every purpose these Rules require, though a party can still serve its own notice under Rule 5, and missing the Prothonotary's mailing never extends — or lets the court extend — the time to appeal.

The rule then spells out what the Prothonotary does: attend court in person (or send a Deputy or Clerk); keep the continuance, foreign and domestic attachment, mechanic's lien, judgment, and other dockets, each indexed both directly and indirectly and each of which may be kept electronically; hold off entering an appeal tried de novo until a certified transcript reaches the office; notify every member of the Bar within 10 days of any amendment to these Rules; and transmit the record on a Supreme Court appeal under Supreme Court Rule 9.

Records and exhibits get their own set of protections. The Prothonotary holds custody of the court's records and papers and can't let an original record, paper, or exhibit leave the courtroom or office except by court direction or under a statute or rule. Exhibits stay put until a case is finally decided and the appeal period runs out; then the party who introduced them has to remove them, or the Prothonotary mails a notice, and if the exhibits still aren't gone within 15 days of that notice, the Prothonotary can ask the court for an order disposing of them. Stenographic notes in civil matters stay on file for 10 years and are presumed destroyed after that, unless a judge has ordered a longer hold in a particular case. Every written opinion, including letter opinions, has to carry two dates under the caption: the date of the last argument, brief, or submission, and the date the opinion or order was filed.

Rule 77(h) sets the court's fee schedule. A base filing fee covers a case's first 50 filings, and every additional block of 50 filings triggers a further $245.00 fee. Requesting a trial date costs a separate, nonrefundable $150.00. Most complaint types — damages actions, condemnations, ejectments, Justice of the Peace appeals, foreign judgments, interpleaders, and similar filings — carry a $200.00 filing fee, while a complaint filed in the Complex Commercial Litigation Division costs $250.00, and a Summary Proceedings for Commercial Disputes complaint is billed at .005 times the amount in controversy, with a $200.00 floor and a $5,000 ceiling. On top of any filing fee of $200.00 or more, the Prothonotary collects a $10.00 Court Security Assessment. A litigant who doesn't pay a fee within 10 days of written demand owes an extra $25.00 fine, and the Prothonotary can refuse further filings from an attorney who falls behind after a second notice.