Adedokun Waliyu 
A federal appeals court on Tuesday adopted a proposal that would require most legal briefs and other court documents to be submitted by 5 p.m. on the day they are due, putting an end to the practice of lawyers and paralegals working until midnight to complete filings.
The new rule applies only to the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It comes after the court’s chief judge Michael Chagares pushed for years for the whole judiciary to rollback deadlines to improve attorneys’ work-life balance.
The court adopted the new rule despite opposition from bar associations and other lawyer groups that said an earlier filing deadline could exacerbate pressure on lawyers and sow confusion among attorneys from other parts of the country who do not often practice in the court.
In a public notice, Chagares said some of the comments led to changes in the proposal, including a decision to exempt filings like petitions for review that initiate a new case in the court.
Under the new rule, electronically filed documents, except for filings that initiate cases in the court, must be submitted by 5 p.m. Eastern Time, otherwise they will be treated as if they were filed the next day.
The new policy takes effect on July 1 but includes a grace period until the end of 2023 for electronic filings submitted after the deadline.
The 3rd Circuit said the changes would aid litigants representing themselves before the court who often cannot file documents electronically and must submit hard copies to the clerk’s office during business hours.
The new rule would also prevent lawyers from purposefully delaying filing until late at night to deprive opposing counsel of time to formulate a response and allow judges to begin reviewing submissions earlier in the day, the court said.
