Nearly three years after trials at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas came to a standstill in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all of the court system’s major civil programs are keeping current with new filings. The one exception is the medical malpractice program, which has seen a more sluggish recovery from the pandemic shutdowns.

And now the legal ecosystem is bracing for an additional influx of medical malpractice suits into the state’s busiest court system as new venue rules officially took effect this month, loosening the rules for where these complex lawsuits can be filed.