Third DCA Becomes Third DCA to Allow Stipulated Enlargements

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Following the trend started by the Fourth District Court of Appeal and Fifth District Court of Appeal, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal yesterday issued an administrative order [.pdf] that, effective immediately, allows parties to stipulate to enlargements of time to serve briefs, rather than seek leave of court. Importantly, the procedure does not apply to writs, expedited or emergency matters, nor adoptions, dependency or termination of parental rights cases. The parties by stipulation can agree to an aggregate of 120 days’ worth of enlargments for initial and answer briefs, and 60 days for reply briefs.

 

UPDATE:  The Third District in 2015 changed the extension time for reply briefs from 60 to 30 [.pdf].

Two District Courts Allow Stipulated Enlargements of Time

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Today’s the day that the Fifth District Court of Appeal’s Administrative Order allowing stipulated enlargements of time go into effect. The Fifth joins the Fourth District Court of Appeal in allowing parties to agree to an enlargement, and then sign a Notice of Enlargement informing the court of the agreement. The Notice need not be signed by both parties, though it must be agreed to by both sides. Be very careful with your calendaring — the Fifth and Fourth have different tolerance levels for the number of days that will be allowed to be extended by stipulation before requiring a motion. I wouldn’t be surprised if the other District Courts of Appeal follow suit soon to take these tedious but necessary motions off of the court’s plate.

Agreed Enlargements of Time in the Fifth DCA

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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.