RULE 14
TIME, SERVICE AND FILING

(a) Computation of Time. Computation of time under these rules shall be in the manner provided by Rule 263, SCACR.

(b) Extending and Diminishing Time Prescribed by These Rules.

(1) By the Commission. The chair of the Commission, the vice-chair of the Commission, or the chair of the hearing panel before which the matter is pending, may extend or shorten the period of time to perform any act required by Rules 19-26. Any request for an extension by an investigative panel or hearing panel shall be considered by the chair or vice-chair of the Commission. No extension over 30 days shall be granted except upon good cause shown. The grant or denial of an extension shall not be subject to an interlocutory appeal.

(2) By Disciplinary Counsel. Disciplinary counsel may extend the time for responses due from a lawyer under Rule 19 for one or more periods not to exceed 30 days in the aggregate for each.

(3) By the Parties. Disciplinary counsel and the lawyer may, by written agreement, extend the time to respond under Rule 19 or 23(a) after the execution and delivery by both parties of an agreement for discipline by consent or deferred disciplinary agreement for the duration of the period the agreement is awaiting a final disposition and for a period of 30 days thereafter if the Agreement is not accepted.

(4) By the Supreme Court. Except for those periods of time that may be extended by the Commission under (1) above, the Supreme Court or any justice thereof may grant an extension of time to perform any act required by these Rules. The Supreme Court or any justice thereof may shorten any time period prescribed by these rules.

(c) Service.

(1) Formal Charges; Subpoenas. Service upon the lawyer of formal charges or a subpoena in any disciplinary or incapacity proceedings shall be made by personal service upon the lawyer or the lawyer's counsel by any person authorized by the chair of the Commission, or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the lawyer's last known address. If service cannot be so made, service shall be deemed complete when deposited in the U.S. Mail, provided the formal charges or the subpoena were sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the primary address the lawyer provided in the Attorney Information System under Rule 410, SCACR, and to the lawyer's last known address, if those addresses differ. A subpoena directed to a non-party shall be served on the non-party as provided in Rule 4(d) or (j) of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure; provided a copy of the subpoena is not required to be served on the lawyer if issued pursuant to Rule 15(b)(1) of these rules. 

(2) Service of Other Documents. Unless otherwise provided in these rules, service of all other documents shall be made in the manner provided by Rule 262, SCACR, and any order of the Supreme Court specifying the proper means of electronic service under the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules.

(3) Electronic Service on Disciplinary Counsel. In addition to the methods of service available under paragraph (c)(2) of this rule, disciplinary counsel may be served by one of the following methods of electronic service.

(A) Disciplinary counsel may be served by e-mail. The address for service on the Office of Disciplinary Counsel is ODCmail@sccourts.org. This method may not be suitable for large documents, and if it becomes necessary to split a document into multiple parts, the e-mail shall identify the part being sent. A document served by this method must be in an Adobe Acrobat portable document format (.pdf).

(B) Lawyers may serve disciplinary counsel using OneDrive for Business. Lawyers are strongly encouraged to use this method for serving large volumes of materials. More information about this method, including registration and other instructions, is available upon request by e-mailing ODCmail@sccourts.org.

(C) Disciplinary counsel may be served by an electronically transmitted facsimile copy. The fax number for disciplinary counsel is (803) 734-1964. While this method is well suited for relatively small documents, depending primarily upon the limitations of the sending fax machine, it may not be possible to send large documents in a single transmission. If it becomes necessary to split a document into multiple parts to make the fax transmission, a separate cover sheet should be used on each part to identify the document.

(d) Filing. When these rules require the filing of a document with the Commission or the Supreme Court, the filing may be accomplished by:

(1) Delivering the document to the Commission or the clerk of the Supreme Court;

(2) Depositing the document in the U.S. mail, properly addressed to the Commission or the clerk of the Supreme Court, with sufficient first class postage attached; or

(3) One of the following electronic methods of filing:

(A) Electronic Filing by Lawyers with the Supreme Court. Lawyers who are licensed to practice law in South Carolina may utilize OneDrive for Business to electronically submit documents for filing with the Supreme Court, and lawyers are strongly encouraged to use this method of filing. More information about this method, including registration and filing instructions, is available in the Attorney Information System (https://ais.sccourts.org/AIS) under the tab "Appellate Filings."

(B) Filing by E-Mail. Filings may be made by e-mail. For the Commission, the e-mail shall be sent to OCCmail@sccourts.org. For the Supreme Court, the e-mail shall be sent to supctfilings@sccourts.org. This method may not be suitable for large documents, and if it becomes necessary to split a document into multiple parts, the e-mail shall identify the part being sent (i.e., Record on Appeal, Part 1 of 4). A document filed by this method must be in Adobe Acrobat portable document format (.pdf). Filers shall not utilize any other file format or a file-sharing service when e-mailing documents for filing. The Commission or the Clerk of the Supreme Court may reject any document submitted by e-mail in a format other than .pdf or using a file-sharing service.

(C) Faxing Documents. A document may be filed by an electronically transmitted facsimile copy. The fax number for the Commission is (803) 734-0363. The fax number for the Supreme Court is (803) 734-1499. While this method is well suited for relatively small documents, depending primarily upon the limitations of the sending fax machine, it may not be possible to send large documents in a single transmission. If it becomes necessary to split a document into multiple parts to make the fax transmission, a separate cover sheet should be used on each part to identify the document. In the event the facsimile copy is not sufficiently legible, the Commission or the clerk of the Supreme Court may require the party to provide a copy by mail.

(e) Date of Filing. The date of filing shall be the date of delivery or the date of mailing if filed using one of the methods specified in (d)(1) or (2) of this rule. When filed using one of the electronic methods of filing specified in paragraph (d)(3) of this rule, a document transmitted and received by 11:59:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, shall be considered filed on that day. Any document filed with the Supreme Court or the Commission shall be accompanied by proof of service of such document on all other parties.

Last amended by Order dated November 17, 2022.