Murphy v. Armstrong

KELLY, Judge.

In this appeal, we are called upon to determine whether a trial court was authorized to dismiss a complaint with prejudice because the plaintiff violated a local rule by failing to file a brief in response to a defendant’s demurrer. We conclude that a local rule allowing for dismissal for failure to file a brief violates the express dictates of Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 239(f). Therefore, we reverse the trial court’s order which dismissed with prejudice the underlying action in this case.

On July 23, 1991, appellants filed their complaint against several defendants,…