The 10-day post-trial deadline is now 28 days. While the work of the Judicial Conference’s five Advisory Committees never really stops, big changes to federal court rules, including the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), don’t occur that often. The newest amendments are “technical amendments”–but the changes are anything but technical.
FRCP. Rule 6, FRCP, the general “time counting” provision, and post-trial Rules 50, 52, and 59, are among the rules changed. Gone forever in Rule 6 is the much relied-upon (and, for many, much beloved) “11-day rule” in subdivision 6(a) adopted in 1985. It was designed to take the hardship out of 10-day post trial deadlines, i.e., don’t count weekends and holidays for deadlines of 10 days or less.