Big Changes To The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure

Windows 7 was not my idea. But the new amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure? Maybe! A few years ago I received a stern reprimand from a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia for supposedly filing a brief past the 5-day deadline. I respectfully explained to the court that, under the Rules then in effect, because weekend days are not counted in time periods of less than 11 days, and because additional days are added to the deadline when papers are served by facsimile, and because if a deadline expires on a Saturday then the deadline is extended to the following Monday--or Tuesday if Monday happens to be a national holiday--then a "5-day deadline" can actually allow up to 147 days! The judge was not impressed. But I was right (up to a point), so now the Rules have been amended to prevent this sort of nonsense.

Effective [Dec. 1], "days" means days. For lawyers who practice in federal court, this is a radical concept. Perhaps even more radical, defendants now have 21 days in which to respond to a lawsuit rather than merely 20. I pity those about to take the bar exam. In any event, here is a summary of what are, in my view, the most significant changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: 
 
Read the entire entry at The Virginia Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
 
For nearly 15 years, trial lawyer and firm founder Lee E. Berlik has been providing effective representation for technology companies, banks, and other small and large businesses in complex litigation and arbitration involving contracts, intellectual property, employment matters, trade secrets, business torts and various statutory violations in both state and federal courts across Virginia and the District of Columbia. Having spent most of his career with large law firms employing 500-750 attorneys, Lee formed BerlikLaw in early 2009 with a mission of offering his clients increased responsiveness, greater value and flexibility, more predictable fees, and better service. For more information about BerlikLaw, visit the Web site.