COUNTING ON THAT FURLOUGH DAY? CAREFUL!

[Posted May 27, 2010] Tomorrow, many of the state’s trial courts will be closed for budget-inspired furloughs for court employees. Pursuant to statute, that extends most filing deadlines unto next Tuesday, the next normal business day.

But what goes on in your locality may not match what’s going on in Richmond; the Clerk’s Offices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals of Virginia will both be open for business on Friday, May 28. That means that any deadlines for filings in the appellate courts will not be affected.

If you’re wondering whether your filing deadline will be extended or not, take a careful look at where you need to file things. In the appellate sector, the things that need to be filed in the trial court (and for which the deadline will be extended if your trial court is closed) are these: Notice of appeal (Rules 5:9 and 5A:6); written statement and objections thereto (Rules 5:11(c) and (d) and 5A:8(c) and (d)); transcript (Rules 5:11(a) and 5A:8(a)); notice of filing of transcript (Rules 5:11(b) and 5A:8(b)); and appeal bond (Code §8.01-676.1). Everything else, including petitions, briefs, and replies to motions, gets filed in the appellate court, and for those, the deadline will not be extended.

Of course, if you go ahead and file today, then you won’t have to worry, and maybe you can take half a day off tomorrow afternoon, right? Just a helpful suggestion . . .