Weber v. Lynch

Opinion by

Jacobs, J.,

This consolidated appeal questions the propriety of Rule 303J, a local rule of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. The rule, which relates to appeals from compulsory arbitration,1 provides that

“ [e] xcept by allowance of the court for good cause shown, no witness, other than an after discovered witness, may be called by a party at any subsequent trial who was not called as a witness by that party at the arbitration hearing.”2

The appellees, plaintiffs below, were not satisfied with an arbitration award in their favor and appealed to the common pleas court. At the…