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E-Filing: Know and Stick to Your Deadline

By Noah C. Hagan posted 09-21-2015 13:14

  

Electronic filing gives you potentially seven or more extra hours to work on your brief because it allows you to timely file documents until 11:59:59 p.m. on the filing deadline, right? And the more time you have to perfect your brief, the better, right? Not so fast.

A Northern District of Ohio judge chastised attorneys who filed a motion for a 15-minute extension at 12:02 a.m. on the day after their opposition brief was due. The brief was then filed at 12:18 a.m. The next morning, Judge Jack Zouhary issued a scathing order that asked, “‘Why are we waiting until the eleventh hour?’ The filing deadline was set some time ago. What message is being sent to this Court when a filing, especially a filing of this length, is being rushed in at the last minute?” Judge Zouhary also lamented the life of an associate in the days of e-filing:

With electronic filing, the daily deadline has been extended from “regular business hours” to evening hours. Lawyers are now literally “burning the midnight oil” (ironically, a phrase developed in pre-electricity days when nighttime light was provided by oil lamps), and hit the send button with a sigh of relief. This is a sad commentary on the life of today’s law firm associates who would undoubtedly prefer to be elsewhere, even if dinner and a ride home are comped.

 Judge Zouhary ultimately denied the motion (because the attorneys didn’t even meet their requested deadline) and granted a 20-minute extension instead, deeming plaintiffs’ brief timely filed. Moral of this story: even though you have until midnight, don’t wait until midnight.

Sometimes, however, e-filing rules don’t alter the business hours filing deadline. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s happening in some courts in Michigan:

  • Michigan Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. You have until 11:59 on the deadline to file. Administrative Order No. 2014-23 states “a document electronically filed or served after 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, or on a Saturday, Sunday, or court holiday . . . shall be deemed to have been filed or served on the next business day.”

  • Eastern District of Michigan. The Eastern District prefers business hours e-filings, but will still treat after-hours filings as timely: “Filing users are encouraged to file electronically during ordinary business hours; however, filing electronically must be completed before 12:00 midnight (Eastern Time) in order to be considered timely filed that day, unless a technical failure [see R13(a)] or malfunction of filing user's equipment occurs [see R13(b)].”

  • Third Circuit Court (Wayne County) and Sixth Circuit Court (Oakland County). E-filing in both Wayne County and Oakland County must occur within the normal business hours: “E-filings may be submitted to the court at any time, but shall only be reviewed and accepted for filing by the clerk's office during the normal business hours . . . . E-filings submitted after business hours shall be deemed filed on the business day the e-filing is accepted (usually the next business day).”

Is e-filing a blessing or a curse? I'm not sure. What I know for sure, though, is that with or without e-filing, lawyers will procrastinate until the last minute.

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