Is Good Friday a Court Holiday? It Depends

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Today an attorney asked me to confirm whether his deadline was really today under the rules, or if the deadline rolled to Monday. And I told him what I am telling you: it depends! What court are you in? As I’ve explained before, Florida Rule of Judicial Administration Rule 2.514 clarifies what constitutes a legal holiday, and defines holidays as:

(A) the day set aside by section 110.117, Florida Statutes, for observing New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, or Christmas Day; and
(B) any day observed as a holiday by the clerk’s office or as designated by the chief judge.

Good Friday is not on the enumerated list. But it happens to be observed as a holiday by many, if not most, of the courts in this state, including the First DCA (First DCA [.pdf]), Second DCA, Third DCA, Fourth DCA, Fifth DCA, and Florida Supreme Court [.pdf]. So if you have an appellate deadline calculated for Good Friday, Happy Easter! It’s due Monday instead. And if your deadline is in the trial court, I recommend checking the clerk’s website and putting a copy of the order in your records in case timeliness becomes an issue down the road on appeal.

A Little Breathing Room on 1.530 Motions

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As previously reported, today is the day that November’s changes to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure go into effect [.pdf], including the change to Rule 1.530:

(b) Time for Motion. A motion for new trial or for rehearing shall be served not later than 10 15 days after the return of the verdict in a jury action or the date of filing of the judgment in a non-jury action….

Five more days to serve post-trial motions? Happy new year!

More Time to Serve Rule 1.530 Motion for New Trial or Rehearing

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The Florida Supreme Court last week approved several changes to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure [.pdf]. The Rule change most likely to affect appellate practitioners — for the better — is the change to Rule 1.530:

Time for Motion. A motion for new trial or for rehearing shall be served not later than 1015 days after the return of the verdict in a jury action or the date of filing of the judgment in a non-jury action. A timely motion may be amended to state new grounds in the discretion of the court at any time before the motion is determined.

The time for service of a motion to alter or amend the judgment under 1.530(g) and for the court to grant rehearing on its own initiative under 1.530(d) is likewise expanded from 10 to 15 days.

This rule change is made without comment from the Supreme Court, but it makes a lot of sense. It can be quite difficult to obtain transcripts in time to prepare a good motion for rehearing, and having a transcript to support the motion is a great help to both the trial and appellate court. I am glad to see it. And the added bonus? Those who are not paying attention to the rule change will be early, rather than late, so this won’t cause a lot of litigation over timeliness of these (jurisdictional) motions.

The change is effective January 1, 2014.