Breaking Down the Legal Deadline
Understanding Legal Deadlines in Florida
Legal deadlines, or "statutes of limitations," are integral to the legal system and considered some of the most set in stone rules. Once the deadline has passed, it closes the door to any related claim from ever being brought back open until the court sitting on the bench at the time decides to change the law. Deadlines aren’t usually something one can bargain with, however they do sometimes confound even the cleverest lawyers, as can be seen in cases where the Florida courts have had to put out an advisory to not rely on prior decisions.
Florida legal timing rules come from the Florida Legislature published in the Florida Statutes:
• Time – Florida Statutes Chapter 1-89
• Computation of Time Rules – Florida Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 1.090
Moreover, the Florida Rules of Court also affect the operation of the statutes of limitations and repose under certain circumstances, such as filing a lawsuit within the statute.
Statute of Limitations
The statutes of limitations are time limits for filing suit and are generally created by legislative authority and provide strict time limits which, unless subject to tolling (an exception that may apply to circumstances causing the victim to not know of the incident in question), must be adhered to.
Statute of Repose
A statute of repose extinguishes the applicable cause of action after a certain period of time, regardless of the accrual of the claim or the injured party’s knowledge of the cause of action. A statute of repose may bar a claim even before the injury occurs. A statute of repose is not controlled by the plaintiff’s latent knowledge of the harm to the plaintiff and , accordingly, can bar recovery even before the plaintiff knows an injury has happened:
Thus, statutes of limitations and repose can destroy a plaintiff’s right of recovery even before they otherwise would have known that a problem existed.
For Example
If a lawsuit has a two-year statute of limitations and the event in question happened on January 1, 2010, then you only have from January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2012 to file.
There are key areas of law that we see the courts side with the defendant and find a previously valid cause of action barred by a statute of limitation, often regardless of all fairness. These are listed below with links to more information provided by the Florida Bar Association which oversees the rules of court and statutes of limitations:
• Medical Malpractice
• Asbestos claims
• Latent classic automobile latent design defects
• Lead paint claims
• Environmental toxins such as lead paint
• Fraud
As you can see, the above areas of law have strict and inflexible statutes of limitation. Another important area of law are claims against the local government where, despite the local government’s fault, the local government has a strict statute of limitation:
• Local government tort claim 30 days notice
Overall, whether it is a municipal tort claim or medical malpractice, the legislature has tied the hands of the injured party by creating inflexible time limits within which a lawsuit must be filed.
How to Calculate a Legal Deadline
Legal deadline calculators are online tools that you can use at no expense to you in order to keep track of important dates. They also help attorneys and other legal professionals file papers and other documents on time with the courts. An effective deadline calculator does two important things. One, it helps you keep track of important dates. Two, it helps you meet obligations in a timely manner. Some of the key features offered by an effective legal deadline calculator: Calculators such as the one referenced above can be extremely helpful for tracking deadlines. Such a calculator can save you a great deal of time and effort in preparing for your case and, thereby, hold you in good stead in your dealings with the courts. You can also use these deadline trackers to ensure the other parties in your case are meeting their obligations as well.
Legal Deadlines Unique to Florida
When local rules apply and the deadline is not set by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure or another statute, then the Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.514 controls. Under Rule 2.514, the time for any act under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure is calculated by excluding the day of the act, counting every day including Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, and on a motion, adding five days to the prescribed period if a request for a hearing is served. This rule also provides that a person may apply to the trial court for an order enlarging the time within which an act is to be done. No application is necessary if the time for the act is less than seven days, however, so neither consent nor court order is required. Thus, most of the time you are not required to file a motion when you need additional time to move or respond.
The Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes provide certain limitations on the time within which a lawsuit must be brought, known as statutes of limitations. For example, the statute of limitations for a foreclosure is five years but when the lender accelerates the loan the statute of limitations begins to run on the entire debt not just the alleged payments missed as the bank may previously have contended. Similarly, the statute of limitations for warranty claims on a home are four years from the date of delivery and acceptance, in most cases. The statute of limitations for the enforcement of a construction lien is one year from the date of the sale of the real property.
In most cases, the deadline’s imposed by local rules will supersede the deadline imposed by statute but as long as the deadline is no more than seven days an attorney can unilaterally move a court deadline without the necessity of motion. Moving a deadline beyond seven days or moving a court date requires the filing of a motion with the court to extend the deadline.
Counties like Sarasota, Lee, and Charlotte have adopted rules requiring foreclosure filings be made by synchronized deadlines so that lenders can file multiple pleadings in hundreds of cases on the same day. They have adopted Local Rule 1 which states: "Rule 1.350 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, shall not be applicable to motions for summary judgment or motions to cancel the certificate of title." So if the lender has already filed a motion for summary judgment and judgment has been granted then the lender can on the same day file a motion for foreclosure sale without a Local Rule 1 motion.
Typical Calculation Errors for Legal Deadlines
Like many aspects of what lawyers do, the precision needed for calculating legal deadlines can be more of an art than a science. In this section, we will highlight some of the more common errors individuals and legal professionals make when calculating legal deadlines and how to avoid such mistakes.
It is always best practice to double check your calculations to ensure that the correct number of days are used and that the proper date is selected.
Individuals and lawyers sometimes find themselves calculating legal deadlines that they have not before encountered. Working with these unfamiliar deadlines can create days which can be counted but incorrectly used. Most recently, Lawyers who are not regularly in litigation are used to certain deadlines that control when an appeal must be filed. Nearly every lawyer knows the rule providing that a criminal appeal must be filed within 30 days of the date of the order from which the appeal is taken (unless an extension is obtained from the court). Most lawyers know that a notice of appeal must usually be filed within 30 days of a final order. What some lawyers do not know is that different deadlines apply depending on the type of order to which an appeal is being taken. In addition to different time limits for notices of appeal, some orders require the filing of a document called a "Notice of Appealability" within 15 days of the entry of the order. Failure to file the correct document within the applicable deadline can deprive parties of the ability to appeal.
Despite the various dates that must be calculated in those deadlines which are critical to your case, attorneys often forget to carry over leap years when calculating legal deadlines (and sometimes even days in which Daylight Savings Time changes) .
Even allowing for a deadline that will land on a weekend or holiday, some attorneys try to add a day to the calculation for good measure out of fear that the deadline might be earlier than required. This fear is not without merit as too many untimely filings have demonstrated. The difference is that such attorneys are adding a day that does not exist out of an abundance of caution. In such situations, the increase in the likelihood of an untimely filing is outweighed by the likelihood of an otherwise defensible calculation leading to a timely filing.
Another common error in calculating deadlines is getting 365 vs. 360 years. Some attorneys, particularly in cases impregnated with commercial reasoning, start calculating deadlines and think of their impact as being explained in terms like "annual" or "biannual." As a result, rather than calculating any deadline to the closest calendar day, such attorneys and advocates might mistakenly calculate the deadline rushed, only to unknowingly find themselves calculating the impact as if there are only 360 days in a year. This mistake can result in a calculation that ignores 5 additional days.
When calculating how many days are between two dates, some attorneys miss the forest for the trees, or more accurately, the days for the months. Some attorneys take the days in the first month and add them to the days in the second month, and then add them to days in the third month, etc. For example, if someone had to wait 36 months (36 days) plus 4 days, some attorneys would try to add 31 + 28 "or sometimes 29" + 31 + 30 to reach 36 and then plus 4. They would then try to count forward from the date of the start date calculation). Whatever the reasoning, the most common result is that the lawyer misses a deadline because by the time you add 4 to 123, you have passed the original 126th day.
Tips for Managing Legal Deadlines
Given the critical nature of legal deadlines, it’s essential to have an effective system for managing them. In this section, we will outline some of the best practices that legal professionals can adopt when it comes to managing legal deadlines, from the use of technology and software to techniques for monitoring and responding to dates efficiently. The first step in ensuring compliance with legal deadlines is to create a comprehensive list of all relevant dates, starting from the moment a new case or matter is opened until its conclusion. From there, you’ll want to closely monitor your jurisdiction’s rules, regulations, and specific court guidelines, all of which can impact the dates involved in a given matter. You should also stay up-to-date on the legislative calendar, as the state legislature may pass new bills with certain time limits that impact the statute of limitations in a given case, for example. From there, the best option is to utilize an electronic management system that corresponds to your general case flow, such as a deadline calculator, a case management program with an integrated deadline feature, or a legal calendaring app. Make sure to input each date as soon as it’s possible to do so, so your calendar is as accurate as possible. However, it’s also crucial to put systems in place to regularly review and update your calendar with any new dates that arise throughout the duration of a case. Keep in mind that many technology tools understate deadlines to allow for additional time to submit documents—don’t forget to give yourself a buffer when processing deadlines and subsequent filings. If you don’t want to use a technology system to process your legal deadlines, you can also master the traditional method called the "calendar rule." The idea of the calendar rule is that when you have a clear deadline from a filing, you take the number of days remaining until the due date, draw it out on a calendar, and adjust accordingly. For example, if you need to respond to a request for admission that has a 30-day response period, you would count down 30 days from the date on the notice to determine your due date. If you get a filing returned with a 10-day notice of hearing, you would count 10 days back from a hearing date to determine the date by which a response must be filed. Note that while this method can be effective for a few different types of filings, it doesn’t work for those that have multiple timelines associated with them (and sometimes the same deadline can be counted two different ways). In instances like these, the computerized option is a better choice.
Top Deadline Calculators Reviewed
A variety of legal deadline calculators are available for use in Florida. Below is a short review of some of the more popular options.
Florida Bar App
The Florida Bar App is an app for iPhone users published and maintained by The Florida Bar. It consists of several sections that include not only deadlines but also a pro bono requirement calendar, a map of Florida Bar board and committee members, and FLABAR-AV legal publications. Users have a choice of entering or importing calendar information into the app to keep track of deadlines.
LawToolBox
LawToolBox provides lawyers with a cloud based calendaring system. It works seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook and can be used on both PC and Mac systems. Although this is a commercial product, it is popular with many Florida government agencies.
Tickler for Outlook
Tickler for Outlook is similar to LawToolBox , but with a single emphasis on tracking deadlines. Like LawToolBox, this program uses Microsoft Outlook. It is commercially available as OfficeToolbox.
101 LaW Calendar Dates
This is one of the few commercially available legal deadline calculators that also offers an American Bar Association edition. Although the program does operate in Broward, Charlotte, Dade, Duval, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Orange, Osceola, Santa Rosa, Sarasota and Seminole Counties, they have suspended online customer service for the moment to take measures against malicious attacks. A Broward County edition is also available.
Docket, Inc.
This cloud based calculator is very easy to use, and although it is not free, the cost per month is fairly low.