The Supreme Court of South Carolina

Re: Amendments to the South Carolina Electronic Filing Policies and Guidelines

Appellate Case No. 2017-001882

ORDER

Pursuant to Art. V, § 4 of the South Carolina Constitution, we adopt the attached amendments to Sections 2, 4, and 11 of the South Carolina Electronic Filing Policies and Guidelines.

Based on recent system upgrades to the E-Filing System and the trial court Case Management System, an attorney E-Filer may now E-File on behalf of a person or entity who is a non-party.  As a result, some current E-Filing exclusions, such as for a motion to quash a subpoena filed by a non-party, and for filings made on behalf of a person or entity who is a non-party, have been removed.  Instructions for using the new feature are available on the E-Filing Portal page at http://www.sccourts.org/efiling/. 

Section 4(d)(2) of the Policies and Guidelines has also been amended to include guidance concerning obtaining relief if a rejection by the clerk of court renders the filing untimely.

The amendments, which are set forth in the attachment to this Order, are effective immediately.

Columbia, South Carolina
October 12, 2017

Section 2(d) of the South Carolina Electronic Filing Policies and Guidelines is amended to provide:

(d) Excluded Documents. The following documents may not be E-Filed, regardless of whether the filer is an attorney, and must be Traditionally filed together with a Certificate of Technical Difficulty:

(1) A motion that may be filed ex parte in an existing case;

(2) A filing that initiates a new case and exceeds 40 Megabytes when converted to PDF;

(3) Settlements filed as new cases, including Minor Settlement and Death Settlement Proceedings, if initiated and filed by the defendant, rather than the plaintiff.

Paragraph (f) is added to Section 11 of the South Carolina Electronic Filing Policies and Guidelines, and provides:

(f) Adding Parties. An Authorized E-Filer may E-File a document on behalf of a person or entity who is not a party to an existing case by utilizing the E-Filing function that electronically adds the person or entity as a party to the case record. Authorized E-Filers may not utilize this function to add a party where a motion to intervene, motion to join a party, motion to substitute a party, motion to amend, or any other motion is required under the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure or statute. An Authorized E-Filer must include a document, such as an answer, response, or other pleading in any submission. Examples of proper use of the function include, but are not limited to:

(1) a motion to quash a subpoena filed on behalf of a non-party;

(2) initial filings made on behalf of insurers in cases involving underinsured motorist coverage;

(3) filings made on behalf of third party bidders in foreclosure matters;

(4) filings made by attorney guardians ad litem.

Rule 4(d)(2) of the South Carolina Electronic Filing Policies and Guidelines is amended by adding the following sentence:

If a document is rejected by the clerk of court and is therefore untimely, the party may seek appropriate relief from the court upon good cause shown, such as when the clerk of court erroneously rejected a filing or where a rejection was based on improper formatting.