# Pennsylvania — Medical malpractice certificate/affidavit of merit requirements by US state — quoted from the state statute or court rule

For Pennsylvania, document required is certificate of merit; filing deadline is shall file with the complaint or within sixty days after the filing of the complaint; who must sign is the attorney for the plaintiff, or the plaintiff if not represented; consequence of non-compliance is a judgment of non pros under Rule 1042.7(a); statute or rule citation is 231 Pa. Code Rule 1042.3, recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** Pennsylvania _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Document required:** certificate of merit _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Filing deadline:** shall file with the complaint or within sixty days after the filing of the complaint _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Who must sign:** the attorney for the plaintiff, or the plaintiff if not represented _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Consequence of non-compliance:** a judgment of non pros under Rule 1042.7(a) _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute or rule citation:** 231 Pa. Code Rule 1042.3 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> In any action based upon an allegation that a licensed professional deviated from an acceptable professional standard, the attorney for the plaintiff, or the plaintiff if not represented, shall file with the complaint or within sixty days after the filing of the complaint, a certificate of merit signed by the attorney or party that either

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### Document required

> In any action based upon an allegation that a licensed professional deviated from an acceptable professional standard, the attorney for the plaintiff, or the plaintiff if not represented, shall file with the complaint or within sixty days after the filing of the complaint, a certificate of merit signed by the attorney or party that either

### Filing deadline

> In any action based upon an allegation that a licensed professional deviated from an acceptable professional standard, the attorney for the plaintiff, or the plaintiff if not represented, shall file with the complaint or within sixty days after the filing of the complaint, a certificate of merit signed by the attorney or party that either

### Who must sign

> In any action based upon an allegation that a licensed professional deviated from an acceptable professional standard, the attorney for the plaintiff, or the plaintiff if not represented, shall file with the complaint or within sixty days after the filing of the complaint, a certificate of merit signed by the attorney or party that either

### Consequence of non-compliance

> a defendant seeking to enter a judgment of non pros under Rule 1042.7(a) shall file a written notice of intention to file the praecipe and serve it on the party’s attorney of record or on the party if unrepresented, no sooner than the thirty-first day after the filing of the complaint.

## Source

- https://www.pacode.com/secure/data/231/chapter1000/s1042.3.html
- https://www.pacode.com/secure/data/231/chapter1000/s1042.6.html

Last verified: 2026-09-02. Review by: 2027-09-02.
Part of [Medical malpractice certificate/affidavit of merit requirements by US state — quoted from the state statute or court rule](https://referencesource.org/medical-malpractice-certificate-of-merit-by-state/).