§ 63.4. Opinions.

 A. Circulation Schedule.

   1. Preparation of Opinions. Preparation of opinions and responses to circulating opinions shall be given the highest priority. The justice to whom the drafting of an opinion has been assigned shall, absent extraordinary circumstances, circulate a proposed opinion to all members of the Court, with contemporaneous notice to the prothonotary’s office, within ninety (90) days of the assignment.

   2. Concurrences and Dissents. Concurrences and dissents shall be circulated to all members of the Court within forty (40) days of the date on which votes on the proposed majority opinions are due. Such concurrences and dissents shall be placed on the next available voting list following their circulation to the Court. The prothonotary’s office shall receive contemporaneous notice of concurrences or dissents.

   3. Voting. Consideration of proposed opinions shall occur at a regularly scheduled opinion conference, either by written vote, or via telephone conference call. Lists of circulating opinions shall be supplied to the members of the Court and the prothonotary by the office of the Chief Justice on a regularly scheduled list date. The list date shall be set for the first Monday of every month, or, if that date is a holiday, on the Tuesday following the Monday holiday. The cases listed shall include all opinions submitted for the Court’s consideration as of ten (10) days prior to the list date.

     a. Written Votes. Written votes on listed cases shall be returned to the Chief Justice’s office on the fifth business day following publication of the list. Within two (2) business days following submission of written votes, the office of the Chief Justice will circulate to all justices a compilation of all votes received. Within two (2) days after receipt of the compilation, the office of the Chief Justice must be advised of any correction to the voting list results. On the next business day, the fifth day following the voting conference, the office of the Chief Justice shall issue a confidential list to the prothonotary of all cases which are ready to be filed together with the votes of the justices. No case will appear on the confidential list unless all votes are recorded. Notice of the forthcoming filings shall be posted, by case name and number only, in the office(s) of the prothonotary, and the prothonotary will docket opinions consistent with the information received.

  (Court Note: For the purpose of this section, the office of the prothonotary shall include all three district offices.)

     b. Telephone Conferences. Any justice may request that any case be held for telephone conference by making such request in writing to the office of the Chief Justice with notice to all other justices and the prothonotary after receipt of the monthly voting list. The list will also indicate a date certain on which a telephone conference will be held for any cases so designated. Cases may be held for discussion to take place at the next scheduled court conference following oral argument by a vote of three justices.

     c. Holds. Cases may be placed on Hold for twenty (20) day periods following circulation of a letter to the members of the Court and to the prothonotary explaining the reasons for the hold, e.g., a forthcoming opinion in a pending case, or preparation of dissent or concurrence. In instances where the hold relates to preparation of a dissent or concurrence, the hold period shall commence on the original due date for the dissent or concurrence, that is, the fortieth day after votes are due on vote listed cases. In no event shall circulation of a dissent or concurrence occur beyond sixty (60) days from the date votes are due on vote listed cases. If, within sixty (60) days of the date votes are due on majority opinions no dissent or concurrence has been placed in circulation, the case will be put down, and the dissenting or concurring justice will be noted as not having participated in the decision of the case.

     d. Reassignment. When a concurrence or dissent garners a majority of votes, the case shall be reassigned to the author of the concurrence or dissent, whose majority opinion shall then be forthcoming within thirty (30) days of the reassignment.

   4. Monitoring. The prothonotary shall provide the Court with a monthly table showing the name, docket number, journal number, assignment, assignment date and circulation date of all argued and submitted cases. All argued and submitted cases which are open for more than one hundred fifty (150) days, and all petitions for reargument which are open for a period of more than forty-five (45) days shall be separately listed.

 B. Labeling.

 1. Majority. An opinion will be labeled ‘‘Opinion’’ when a majority of the Court joins the opinion.

 Proposed majority opinions that involve multiple, complex issues which the Justice believes may garner disparate votes should be divided into sections. See, e.g., Phillips v. Cricket Lighters, 841 A.2d 1000 (Pa. 2003). If there is a split on an opinion that has been divided into sections, the author of the lead opinion will be responsible for preparing a short introductory explanatory statement regarding the breakdown of votes.

 2. Concurrences and Dissents. An opinion is a ‘‘concurring opinion’’ when it agrees with the result of the lead opinion. A Justice who agrees with the result of the lead opinion, but does not agree with the rationale supporting the lead opinion, in whole or in part, may write a separate ‘‘concurring opinion.’’ An opinion is a ‘‘dissenting opinion’’ when it disagrees with the result of the lead opinion. An opinion is ‘‘concurring and dissenting opinion’’ only when there is more than one result and the Justice agrees with one or more of the results, but not the other(s). Alternatively, a Justice may choose to ‘‘concur in result’’ or ‘‘dissent’’ without writing a separate opinion.

 C. Reargument Petitions.

   The provisions of this §  63.4 amended through September 27, 1995; amended April 29, 2005, 35 Pa.B. 2854. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (229783) to (229785).