Pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 227.1, the parties to a case must file post-trial motions before filing an appeal after the trial or risk waiver of issues on appeal. Although the rule reflects longstanding and standard procedure, evidently there has been some dispute as to what precisely triggers the application of the rule, and that is the issue raised and ruled upon in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case of Newman Development Group of Pottstown v. Genuardi’s Family Markets, 617 Pa. 265.

The underlying case involved a lease dispute that went to trial. At the conclusion of the trial, both parties filed the appropriate post-trial motions and appeals pursuant to Rule 227.1(c). The Superior Court vacated the trial court’s judgment and remanded to recalculate damages. Accordingly, the parties filed memoranda with the trial court and presented oral argument, but presented no additional evidence or legal arguments regarding damages; thereafter, the trial court again entered a judgment, this time using recalculated numbers. An appeal from the trial court’s new calculation of judgment was filed, but no post-trial motions were filed, and, as a result, the Superior Court quashed the appeal as noncompliant with Rule 227.1(c). As a result, an appeal to the state Supreme Court from the Superior Court’s decision to quash the appeal from the trial court was filed and is the subject of this article.

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