District of South Carolina Local Civil Rules — The Practitioner's Guide

SC-D requires CM/ECF filing of all civil documents. Sealing requires a mandatory motion-to-seal procedure with public notice on the docket.

Mechanics

• CM/ECF filing (Local Civ. R. 5.02): Mandatory.
• Sealing (Local Civ. R. 5.03): Mandatory motion-to-seal procedure.
• Party files a Motion to Seal accompanied by a memorandum, attachments, and supporting materials.
• The clerk provides public notice of the motion on the docket.
• Failure to obtain prior approval results in summary denial of the sealing request.
• Discovery materials filing (Local Civ. R. 5.01): Not filed; retained by the party serving or taking the deposition.
• After-hours filings: Procedure for emergency filings between 4:30 p.m. and 12:00 midnight.

For the trap on the mandatory motion-to-seal procedure with public notice, see Watchpoints #2.

SC-D's six-location structure produces division-level practice variation. The mediation framework (Local Civ. R. 16.04-16.11) is structured at the district level with mediator authority and party duties prescribed.

Locations

Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Florence, Spartanburg, Aiken.

Mediation framework (Local Civ. R. 16.04-16.11)

• Definitions (16.04).
• Relief from Mediation Requirement (16.05).
• Appointment of Mediator (16.06).
• The Mediation Conference (16.07).
• Duties of the Parties (16.08).
• Sanctions for Failure to Attend Mediation Conference (16.09).
• Authority and Duties of Mediators (16.10).
• Compensation of the Mediator (16.11).

Individual judge pages: scd.uscourts.gov has individual judge pages.

For the traps on the mediation framework and the six-location structure, see Watchpoints #6 and #8.

Operating Model — Submission Court (Local-Counsel-Signed Pleadings)

SC-D is a submission court. Counsel files the motion; opposition and reply follow per Local Civ. R. 7; the court rules on the papers. Oral argument is discretionary — 'motions may be determined without a hearing.' SC-D uses the formal motion track for all motions; there is no district-wide letter-brief track.

The distinctive feature of SC-D's procedural structure is the local-counsel requirement (Local Civ. R. 83.I.04) — local counsel must sign all pleadings on behalf of PHV counsel, and the relationship is substantively responsible rather than nominal. SC-D operates across six divisional locations (Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Florence, Spartanburg, Aiken). Among our 10-court sample, SC-D's local-counsel-signature requirement is the most rigorous PHV mechanic.

For comparative reading on operating models across federal districts, see the operating-model atlas entry.