Appellate Insights

Diligent lawyers plan for deadlines.  But that’s especially hard in California these days:  As more trial courts transition (at last) to all-electronic filing, glitches have been frequent, with numerous documents being rejected and filing-confirmation sometimes taking more than a week to arrive.

So avoid deadline-day filings whenever you possibly can.  Allow extra lead time, especially for these time-critical pleadings:

• Notice of motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict
• Notice of motion for new trial
• Notice of appeal

Yes, you might be able to obtain relief later if you can show you missed a jurisdictional deadline due to a system error, but the stress and wasted time are not worth it with the stakes so high.

►  The practical message:   E-file early, at least until the systems improve.  Not even veteran staff or outside attorney services can slay ghosts in the machine.