The ABA Journal featured Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince front and center on its cover this month. It’s heartening to see not one, but three strong woman leading Southern state’s high courts. But the reality is, they got their article in just under the wire — as previously reported, Justice Quince is rotating out of the Chief Justice position, and Justice Canaday takes over the lead on July 1st.
Even if you aren’t normally a rules geek, this is the year to order new rules books. On December 1, 2009, a far-reaching shift in time calculation rules goes into effect across all of the Federal rules of procedure. Referred to as the Days are Days approach, the intent is to remove confusion over when weekends are counted in time calculations, and when they are not. This basic principle has been implimented in both the rules of appellate procedure and the rules of civil procedure. Be aware of the changes in both sets of rules, as the calculation of some jurisdictional deadlines may be affected.
The Record: Journal of the Appellate Practice Section published a more detailed article about this change written by yours truly in its Fall 2009 issue. I’ve uploaded a .pdf of the article for your reading pleasure.