Hurricane Dorian approaching Florida

How Does a Hurricane Affect Court Deadlines? (Dorian Edition)

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Hurricane Dorian approaching Florida

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) image of Hurricane Dorian taken Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, at 17:00 UTC.

Even though we currently have sunny skies, many courts in Florida are closed today due to the threat of Hurricane Dorian (Specifically, the Second and Third Districts are closed today, and the Fourth and Fifth Districts are closed today and tomorrow, with the First and Florida Supreme Court still open as of this writing. How does that affect court deadlines? The short answer: In Florida state courts, you won’t know until the storm is over, so don’t count on a deadline moving. And in Federal Court, the courthouse being closed does not mean you can’t file, so your best bet is to meet any deadline today. Here’s the rules-geek long answer:

Deadlines in Florida State Courts

An emergency closure does not count as a “Court Holiday” under Florida Rules of Judicial Administration Rule 2.514(a)(6)(B) — the Courts are not calling it a “holiday,” and doing so probably has personnel implications that Court administration doesn’t want to deal with. However, the Florida Supreme Court generally issues administrative orders extending deadlines in the affected counties. Right now, the Florida Supreme Court’s emergency page states:

After a storm, orders will be issued by the Chief Justice retroactively extending deadlines in storm-damaged areas. Attorneys and others who missed legal deadlines or hearing dates in areas hard-hit by a hurricane will be protected by these orders, which will be issued once the courts in these areas reopen. They will be posted on our Administrative Orders page when issued.

(This from the Florida Supreme Court Emergency Page as of noon on September 3, 2019). As of this writing, there are no such orders in place, since the threat is not yet over. Check the Court’s administrative orders emergency page for updates. But also, we have not actually been hit so far, so I would be concerned that the Court is not going to ultimately extend deadlines for all. Even with Courts closed, meet all deadlines today, or timely seek extensions. The Florida appellate courts, in particular, are generous with timely-requested enlargements, so don’t hesitate to ask the Court for them.

But what about deadlines that are not normally allowed to be extended? Rule 1.090 states that, even for good cause, a Court:

may not extend the time for making a motion for new trial, for rehearing, or
to alter or amend a judgment; making a motion for relief from a judgment under
rule 1.540(b); taking an appeal or filing a petition for certiorari; or making a
motion for a directed verdict.

We did this analysis for Hurricane Matthew, so check out our prior post on that one.

Deadlines in Federal Courts

The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure state that when calculating deadlines computed as days:

if the period would end on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period continues to run until the same time on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26(a)(2)(C). The Federal rules have an additional helpful provision expressly addressing “Inaccessibility” of the Clerk’s Office:

(3) Inaccessibility of the Clerk’s Office. Unless the court orders otherwise, if the clerk’s
office is inaccessible:
(A) on the last day for filing under Rule 26(a)(1), then the time for filing is extended
to the first accessible day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday; or

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26(a)(3). But remember, a closure of the physical building does not make the clerk’s office inaccessible. For example, the Middle District of Florida website currently states:

UPDATE: 7:45 p.m. | Monday, September 2, 2019

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019, the Jacksonville, Ocala, and Orlando divisions are closed, and the Fort Myers and Tampa divisions are open.

On Wednesday, September 4, 2019, the Jacksonville division is closed, and the Fort Myers, Ocala, Orlando, and Tampa divisions are open.

CM/ECF remains available. The website will be updated if additional closures are required.

And the Eleventh Circuit does not even mention the hurricane on its website as of this writing, but since all filings are supposed to be made through ECF or through Atlanta, any “inaccessibility” argument won’t get very far.

Requesting Extensions After the Fact

Remember that if you miss a deadline in most courts, you have a higher burden to prove entitlement to the extension. Both state and federal courts are going to require a showing of good cause and excusable neglect. So meet your filing deadlines today, or at the very least get extension request on file before the deadline passes.

Is Memorial Day, May 27, a Court Holiday? (2019 edition)

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Memorial Day–May 27, 2019–is a day that we remember and honor those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  You probably already suspect that it is a court holiday, too

Navy Sailors and women in dress and large hats pose with flowers on a ship.

Memorial Day in 1918, just over a century ago.

But if you’re anything like us, you want–nigh, you NEED–to see it in writing from an authoritative source and you’ll probably be checking court websites at 11 p.m. on Sunday night to be sure.  Let us help.

The short answer is YES in Florida state courts.  Here’s the authority.

In Florida state courts, Memorial Day is one of the enumerated “Legal Holidays” in Florida Rule of Judicial Procedure 2.514(a)(6)(A) (.pdf) (defining “Legal Holiday”).

Additionally, every court lists Memorial Day on their own calendars:

Florida Appellate Courts

Florida Circuit Courts

Are you in federal court? You get the day off, too.

Was this post helpful? Subscribe for more!

This post is a continuation of our “Is it a holiday” series:

https://floridaappellate.com/2019/04/18/is-good-friday-a-court-holiday-2019-edition/

https://floridaappellate.com/2014/04/18/is-good-friday-a-holiday-it-depends/

https://floridaappellate.com/2015/01/19/is-martin-luther-king-day-a-holiday-in-florida-courts/

If you want to get updates on court holidays and other appellate happenings, subscribe to this blog under the “FLORIDA APPELLATE PROCEDURE UPDATES BY EMAIL” on this page.

 

An historic image from a calendar for the month of January

Calculating Deadlines Under the New Rules

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An historic image from a calendar for the month of January

Don’t let January’s rule changes cause you confusion!

There is always some confusion when new rules affecting the calculation of deadlines come into effect, as happened on the January 1, 2019. How do you calculate deadlines that straddle the gap? Someone reached out directly to us to ask the question, so here’s our answer for posterity.

The hypothetical is this: Appellant files an initial brief on Friday, December 28, 2018. When is the answer brief due? Under the version of the rules in effect on December 28, 2018, an Answer Brief the rule stated:

Unless otherwise required, the answer brief shall be served within 20 days after service of the initial brief.

See former Rule 9.210(f). In addition, former rule 2.514(b) allowed an additional five days added to any deadline calculated based on service by e-mail:

(b) Additional Time after Service by Mail or E-mail. When a party may or must act within a specified time after service and service is made by mail or e-mail, 5 days are added after the period that would otherwise expire under subdivision (a).

So under the old rules, the 20th day is Thursday, January 17, 2019. Add five additional days for service by e-mail, and the deadline is Tuesday, January 22, 2019.

New Rules, New Math

The new rules change the calculations. The new version of Rule 9.210(f) states:

Unless otherwise required, the answer brief shall be served within 2030 days after service of the initial brief…

And the new version of Rule 2.514(b) eliminates extra days for service by e-mail, now reading:

(b) Additional Time after Service by Mail. When a party may or must act within a specified time after service and service is made by mail, 5 days are added after the period that would otherwise expire under subdivision (a).

Finally, the new version of Rule 2.514 gives you a break on when to start counting if someone served you something on the eve of a weekend or holiday. Where before, you would “exclude the day of the event that triggers the period” and start counting on the next calendar date, the new rule states that you “begin counting from the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.” See New Rule 2.514(a)(1).

The net result is that instead of counting 20 days (which could be more, if the last day fell on a weekend) and then adding an additional 5 days for mailing (which could be more, if the last day fell on a weekend), you now count a straight 30 days, starting from the next business day. If the last day falls on a weekend or holiday, you then role to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. If the new rule applies to the brief filed December 28, 2018, you start counting from Monday December 31, 2018 (after confirming it is not a holiday; it is not). From there, the 30th day would be Tuesday, January 29, 2019.

Do the New Rules Change the Due Date?

So is the deadline the 22nd or the 29th? It’s great that the new rules tend to net attorneys more total time, but what happens this month? Good question.

There is voluminous case law about whether a newly-enacted statute should be applied retroactively.

In order for a law to apply retroactively, the court must determine (1) if there is evidence that the legislature clearly intended for the law to be applied retroactively, and (2) if so, whether the retrospective application of that law is constitutionally permissible. See Pondella Hall for Hire v. Lamar, 866 So.2d 719, 722 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004). In the absence of clear legislative intent that a law apply retroactively, the general rule is that procedural statutes apply retroactively and substantive statutes apply prospectively.

Envtl. Confederation of Sw. Florida, Inc. v. State, 886 So. 2d 1013, 1017 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004). But, this is not a statute enacted by the legislature, but rather, a rule of procedure promulgated by the Supreme Court.

Moreover even when the new law is stated by the Supreme Court, the analysis of retroactivity has constitutional dimensions:

the essential considerations in determining whether a new rule of law should be applied retroactively are essentially three: (a) the purpose to be served by the new rule; (b) the extent of reliance on the old rule; and (c) the effect on the administration of justice of a retroactive application of the new rule.

Witt v. State, 387 So. 2d 922, 926 (Fla. 1980).

But this rule generally comes into play when the Florida Supreme Court makes a ruling that itself has constitutional dimensions. It does not speak to rule changes.

Here, we are dealing with changes to rules of procedure and not statutory pronouncements or decisional changes in the law. The answer therefore lies in a different line of cases. Since the 1800s, the Florida Supreme Court has held that its rules of court are prospective in nature:

Unless otherwise specifically provided, our court rules are prospective only in effect. Poyntz v. Reynolds, 37 Fla. 533, 19 So. 649 (1896).

Tucker v. State, 357 So. 2d 719, 721 (Fla. 1978).

To avoid litigation in some criminal cases, the Supreme Court has sometimes expressed this rule of interpretation outright when making a rule change. For example, in amending the rules regarding post-conviction collateral relief, the court expressly stated the effective date and then stated, in the rule itself, “Motions pending on that date are governed by the version of this rule in effect immediately prior to that date.”
In re Amendments to Florida Rules of Judicial Admin.; Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure; and Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure–Capital Postconviction Rules, 148 So. 3d 1171, 1180 (Fla. 2014). However, precedent dictates that the rules apply prospectively only unless the Court expressly states otherwise. Poyntz v. Reynolds, 37 Fla. 533, 19 So. 649 (1896); Tucker v. State, 357 So. 2d 719, 721 (Fla. 1978).

Apply the Rules in Effect on the Triggering Date

All of this is a long-winded analysis to come to a very logical conclusion: calculate deadlines based upon the rules in effect on the date of the event that triggers the calculation. So in our hypothetical, because the deadline for service of an answer brief is based on the date of service of the initial brief, and because the initial brief was served last year when the old rules were in effect, calculate the deadline using the old rules. The answer brief is due Thursday, January 17, 2019.

Don’t miss our other entries on the rule changes, including our overview, and our discussion of new types of appeals authorized by the new rules. Let us help you with your appeal! 813-778-5161.