J-S66029-15

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 JAMES RYAN AND KRISTINA RYAN IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellants v. BAKER PET HOSPITAL, DANIEL L.

BAKER, AND JOHN M. JONES Appellees No. 790 WDA 2015

Appeal from the Order Entered April 14, 2015 In the Court of Common Pleas of Mercer County Civil Division at No: 2014-3023

BEFORE: OLSON, STABILE, and STRASSBURGER,* JJ.

JUDGMENT ORDER BY STABILE, J. FILED MARCH 21, 2016 Appellants, attorneys James Ryan and Kristina Ryan, appeal from the order entered on April 14, 2015 in the Court of Common Pleas of Mercer County. Upon review, we find we must dismiss Appellants’ appeal.

Appellants filed a complaint asserting a professional liability claim against Appellees. In compliance with Pa.R.C.P. 1042.6, Appellees filed a notice of intent to seek a judgment of non pros for failure to file a certificate of merit. Pa.R.C.P. 1042.6. Appellants then untimely filed certificates of merit stating expert testimony is unnecessary.1 In response, Appellees filed ____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

Pa.R.C.P. 1042.3 requires that, in professional liability actions, a certificate of merit be filed with or within sixty days of the complaint. Pa.R.C.P. 1042.3(a).

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preliminary objections and a motion for a court order of dismissal for non pros for failure to file a certificate of merit. A hearing was held on April 6, 2015. The trial court entered an order granting Appellees’ motion for non pros and dismissed Appellants’ complaint with prejudice. Appellants then appealed to this Court.2 We note that Appellants filed the instant appeal instead of initially petitioning the trial court to open the judgment of non pros. Pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 3051, “[r]elief from a judgment of non pros shall be sought by petition. All grounds for relief, whether to strike off the judgment or to open it, must be asserted in a single petition.” Pa.R.C.P. 3051(a). Failure to file a petition to open the judgment of non pros with the trial court results in waiver of any claims of error concerning the judgment of non pros.

Pa.R.C.P. 3051; Sahutsky v. H.H. Knoebel Sons, 782 A.2d 996, 1001 (Pa. 2001); Womer v. Hilliker, 908 A.2d 269, 277 (Pa. 2006). Regrettably, since Appellants failed to petition to either strike or open the judgment of non pros, we are unable to review Appellants’ claims. Accordingly, we dismiss Appellants’ appeal.

Appeal dismissed.

____________________________________________ Notice of the trial court’s April 14, 2015 order was not given until April 15, 2015. Appellants’ appeal, filed May 15, 2015, is therefore timely. See Pa.R.C.P 236; Pa.R.A.P. 108(b), 903(a).

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Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 3/21/2016

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