The Philadelphia Court's Website Is Still Down - Find Forms in PBIs

UPDATE: The court's website is back up! Find out more here.

The Philadelphia Court's website has been suspended since May 21. According to a Notice from the First Judicial District, the suspension was taken as a precautionary measure after "the discovery of malware on a limited number of FJD workstations".

Since then, librarians at Jenkins have helped attorneys and self-represented litigants find forms usually found on the court's website. Publications from the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) have been great resources during this time.

Here are some of our "go to" PBI titles for more common Philadelphia court questions and a selection of the forms found in them:

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Civil Practice Manual - The Forms section of this manual includes over 400 pages of forms organized by type of filing. These include first filings, service of process, default judgment, preliminary relief, discovery, class actions, compulsory arbitration, settlement, execution practice, mechanics' liens, and more.

Philadelphia County Domestic Relations Manual - This PBI manual is organized by specific domestic relations matters, like custody, divorce, support, and paternity. Forms include "Complaint for Custody", "Complaint for Support", "Complaint in Divorce", "Domestic Relations Information Sheet", "Family Division Motion Cover Sheet", and more.

Five County Criminal Practice - The Philadelphia portion of this PBI contains a variety of sample forms and documents, including "Transcript Order Form", "Petition to Expunge Criminal Record", "Waiver of Jury Trial", "Motion for Bail Reduction", "Discovery Request Letter", "Petition for Parole", and more.

Five County Juvenile Court Practice - The Philadelphia portion of this PBI contains a small number of forms: "Notice of Alibi Defense", "Juvenile Unit Client Interview Form", "Motion for Admission of Defense Evidence", and "Motion to Suppress".

Five County Adoption Practice - The Philadelphia portion of this PBI contains a selection of forms, including "Petition for Adoption", "Petition to Confirm Consent" (forms for both mother and father), "Petition to Involuntarily Terminate Parental Rights", and more.

Need help finding a form? Ask us!

Up-to-date information about the suspension of the court's website and which systems are back up and running is available from the FJD's Twitter and Facebook pages.

Want more information on the shut down and how it's effecting legal services? Check out these articles and podcasts:

Phila. Court Sites Offline for Computer Virus Probe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 24, 2019

Phila. Court Shuts Down Website, E-Filing Over 'Virus Intrusion', The Legal Intelligencer, May 24, 2019

Law Firms Going 'Old School' as Phila. Court System Struggles to Recover From Computer Virus, The Legal Intelligencer, May 31, 2019

Computer Virus Still Crippling Philly Courts and Their Online Systems, The WHYY, June 10, 2019 (podcast)

Courts’ Computer Systems Still Not Fully Restored Following Virus, The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 15, 2019