Agreed Enlargements of Time in the Fifth DCA

Following the trend started by the Fourth District Court of Appeal, the Fifth District Court of Appeal recently decided to take motions for enlargement of time off of the plate of both the judges and court staff by issuing an administrative order [.pdf] allowing parties to instead stipulate to an agreed enlargement of time. Effective March 1, 2013, parties can agree to up to 90 days worth of enlargements for initial and answer briefs, and up to 60 days for a reply brief, by merely filing a stipulation. Notably, this is less time than the Fourth DCA allows before requiring a motion. The Court has a preferred form for the stipulation, so be sure to follow the language of the order. The procedure goes into effect starting March 1, 2013.

Enlargements beyond those deadlines will still require leave of court. And my guess would be that the Court will not be happy to see an enlargement of time motion come across its desk after 90 days.