Opinion
2022-05-06-03 Appellate Case 2020-000447
05-06-2022
RE: Methods of Electronic Filing and Service Under Rule 262 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules (As Amended May 6, 2022)
ORDER
Donald W. Beatty, C.J.
(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."
(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. The fax number for the Supreme Court is 803-734-1499. The fax number of the Court of Appeals is 803-734-1839. 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 (5) 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 Rule 410(g), SCACR, to ensure that their AIS information is current and accurate at all times.1
(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 email 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.
John W. Kittredge J., Kaye G. Hearn J., John Cannon Few J., George C. James, Jr. J.
1 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.