Class Action

Invitation to comment on proposed rule on court closure days

By Kimberly A. Kralowec

As you may have heard, on July 29, the Judicial Council voted to institute court closure days, as authorized by newly-enacted Government Code section 68106. Here is the Report that led to that vote. 

The Judicial Council has now issued proposed new Rule of Court 1.12 to implement this decision. The Rule would designate the third Wednesday of each month from September 2009 through June 2010 as court closure days and would confirm that closure days are treated as court holidays for purposes of calculating filing deadlines. Comments on the proposed Rule are due on a very short timeframe -- by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 17.

I thought the July press coverage was unclear respecting whether the Supreme Court would also be subject to the closure days. The proposed Rule makes plain that the Supreme Court will be closed, like the rest of the courts, on the third Wednesdays. This will, presumably, disrupt the Court's existing conference schedule for the rest of this year, as well as for 2010, and require rescheduling of the conferences set for September 16, October 21, November 18, December 16, and a series of third-Wednesday conferences in 2010.

Incidentally, tomorrow's conference is the final one before the Court's extended deadline (Aug. 14) to rule on the petition for rehearing in Tobacco.  So check back here tomorrow for more on that.

Full post as published by The UCL Practitioner on August 11, 2009 (boomark / email).