§ 6. Allowance of Appeal.

A. [Assignment.] Duties of Prothonotary.

(1) The Prothonotary shall initially screen petitions for allowance of appeal for compliance with the applicable appellate rules. [Untimely petitions may be refused for filing by the Prothonotary without further action of the Court.] The Prothonotary shall note if the following defects are present: (a) whether the petition violates the prohibition against hybrid representation; (b) whether the petitioner has not provided proper proof of service; (c) whether the petitioner has not paid the required filing fee or submitted a petition to proceed in forma pauperis; and (d) whether the petition exceeds the permissible word count limit.

Where any of these four defects are present, the Prothonotary shall notify the petitioner and afford an opportunity for correction, while preserving the filing date based upon the initial submission. If the identified defects are not corrected, the Prothonotary may refuse the petition for filing without further action of the Court.

Untimely petitions may be refused for filing by the Prothonotary without further Court action.

(2) Petitions for allowance of appeal shall be assigned to individual Justices by the Prothonotary on a rotating basis by seniority for preparation of an allowance of appeal report. Petitions from the same district presenting the same question shall be consolidated; petitions from different districts that present the same question may be consolidated at the discretion of the Court. * * *