Pa Rule 1925(B) Interpretation

Our Supreme Court, in Commonwealth v. Lord, 553 Pa. 415, 719 A.2d 306 (1998), interpreted Rule 1925(b) as establishing a clear rule for waiver by stating that any issues not raised in a court-ordered Rule 1925(b) statement will be considered waived on appeal. Thereafter, in Commonwealth v. Butler, 571 Pa. 441, 812 A.2d 631 (2002), our Supreme Court explained that its opinion in Lord established a bright-line test resulting in an automatic waiver of issues not included in a Rule 1925(b) statement. In Butler, the Supreme Court also recognized the dual requirement of filing a Rule 1925(b) statement with the trial court and serving it on the trial court. This Court, in Egan v. Stroudsburg School District, 928 A.2d 400 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2007), specifically concluded, at the request of the court of common pleas, that an appellant had waived all issues on appeal as a result of the appellant's failure to serve a copy of her Rule 1925(b) statement on the trial court judge even though a Rule 1925(b) statement had been filed of record with the trial court. As a result, the Court entered an order quashing the appeal.