FILED U.S. COURT OF AP P E ALS E LE V EN T HC IRC U IT OCTOB ER 5, 2007 THOMAS K. KAH

N CLERK [ DO NO T P UB L I S H] I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

________________________ N o. 07- 12582 N on -A rgum entC al endar

________________________ D . C . D ocketN o. 05 -014 69 -C V -T C B -1 F E L I C I A A . P O P E , P la in tif f - A p p e lla n t, v ersu s P I L G R I M S P R I D E C O R P O R A T I O N , D e f e n d a n t- A p p e lle e .

________________________ A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f o rth e N o r th e rn D is tr ic t o f G e o r g ia

_________________________ ( O c t ob e r 5, 2007) B efo re B L A C K , C A RN E S an d M A R C U S , C i rcu i tJu d g es. P E R C U R I A M: T hi s i s F e l i c i a P ope ’ s appe a l of a n or de rf

i ndi ng tha tthe P i l gr i m ’ s P r i de2

C orpo ra t i on t i m el y f

i l ed i t s bi l l of cost s a ft erthe di stri ctcourtgrant ed sum m ary j ud gm enti n the com pany’ s f avor. Iti s u n d i sp u t ed th atP i l g ri m ’ s P ri d e fi l ed th e b i l l o f co st s th i rty-th ree d ays af t erthe entryof the j ud gm ent . A l tho ug h the di stri ctcourt ’ s l ocal rul es re qu i re th at“ [a] b i l l o f co st s m u stb e fi l ed b y th e p rev ai l i n g p arty w i th i n th i rty (3 0 ) d ays a f te rth e e n try o f

ju d g m e n t,” N .D . G a . R . 5 4 .1 , th e d is tr ic t c o u r t f o u n d th a t th e b ill w a s tim e ly f

ile d b y r e ly in g o n its L o c a l R u le 6 .1 . T h a t ru le p r o v id e s th a t: F o rtim e p e r io d s g r e a te rth a n e le v e n ( 1 1 ) d a y s , th e th r e e ( 3 ) d a y m a il e x t e n s i o n o f

[ Fe d . R. Ci v . P. ] 6 ( e ) i s a d d e d t o th e s t a t e d r e s p o n s e t i me t o c r e a t e a l e ngthe ne d t i m e pe r i od. F ore xa m pl e , a r e s pons e t i m e of th i rty (3 0 ) d ays b eco m es a resp o n se t i m e o f th i rty-th ree (3 3 ) d ays. N . D . G a. R . 6. 1. F eder al R ul e of C i vi l P roce du re 6(e) , i n turn, gi ves part i es an addi t i on al three days “ [w ] henever a party m ustor m ayac tw i thi n a pres cr i bed peri od af t erse rvi ce , ” a s l on g as s ervi ce i s m ade i n cert ai n w ay s thatar e nothere r e le v a n t. O n ap p e a l, P o p e c o n te n d s th a t th e d is tr ic t c o u r t m is in te rp r e te d L o c a l R u le 6 . 1 . Sh e e mp h a s i z e s th a tth e th r e e - d a y e x t e n s i o n p r o v i d e d u n d e rFe d . R. Ci v . P. 6 (e ) a n d re fe re n ce d in L o ca l R u le 6 .1 ap p li es o n ly to ti m e p er io d s in w h ich “a pa r ty m us torm a y a c tw i thi n a pr e s c r i be d pe r i od a f t e rs e r vi c e . ” A nd s i nc e the thi rty- day t i m e per i od for f i l i ng a bi l l of cost s i s aperi od thatbegi ns t o run “ af t er the entryof j ud gm ent , ” N . D . G a. R . 54 . 1 (em ph as i s a dd ed), the three -day3

ext ensi on i s unavai l abl e. In other w ords, she s ay s, si nce j ud gm ent s a re no tsubj ec t t o “ serv i ce, ” F ed . R . C i v . P . 6 (e) an d (acco rd i n g l y) L o cal R u l e 6 . 1 d o n o tap p l y. P op e’ s i nt erpret at i on of these rul es se em s r ea sonabl e t o u s, and i tm ayeven b e th e i n t erp ret at i o n w e w o u l d fo l l o w w ere w e t o d eci d e th e i ssu e i n th e fi rst in s ta n c e . S e e , e .g ., C a v a lie r e v . A lls ta te I n s . C o ., 9 9 6 F .2 d 1 1 1 1 , 1 1 1 3

– 1 4 ( 1 1 th C i r . 1993) ( hol di ng tha tthe thr e e - da y gr a c e pe r i od i n F e d. R . C i v. P . 6( e ) doe s not ap p l y t o mo t i o n s f

o ra n e w tr i a l u n d e rFe d . R. Ci v . P. 5 9 , i n p a r tb e c a u s e th e t i me p e r io d f o rf ilin g th o s e m o tio n s b e g in s to ru n f r o m “e n try o f

ju d g m e n t” ) . T he pr obl e m w i th he ra r gum e nt , how e ve r , i s tha ti tdoe s n’ te xpl a i n w hy the d is tr ic t c o u r t’s r e a d in g o f L o c a l R u le 6 .1 is u n r e a s o n ab le . B y its te r m s , th a t ru le appl i es t o “ t i m e per i od s gre at erthan el even (11) days. ” T he di stri ctcourtvery w e l l c oul d ha ve r e a d tha tphr a s e t o m e a n a l l “ t i m e pe r i ods gr e a t e rtha n e l e ve n ( 11) d a y s .” T h e ru le ’s g r a n t o f e x te n s io n s to “r e s p o n s e tim e [ s ]” is s im ila r ly s u b je c t to m u l t i p l e, reaso n ab l e i n t erp ret at i o n s. A l th o u g h o n e p l au si b l y co u l d read th atp h rase a s r e f e rr i ng onl y t o t i m e pe r i ods tr i gge r e d by s om e s or tof s e r vi c e , w e thi nk the di s tr i c tc our ta l s o c oul d ha ve r e a s onabl y r e a d i ta s r e f e rr i ng t o a ny t i m e pe r i od w ith in w h ic h a p a r tym u s t a c t. A l l these det ai l s a si de, w e m ustre m em ber thatw e a re t o g i ve “ grea t de f e r e nc e t o a di s tr i c tc our t ’ s i nt e rpr e t a t i on of i t s l oc a l rul e s . ” C l a r k v. H ous i ng4

A uthor i ty , 971 F . 2d 723, 727 ( 11th C i r . 1992) . “ A di s tr i c tc our ti s the be s tj udge of i t s ow n rul e s , ” i d. ( c i t i ng U ni t e d S t a t e s F i d. & G ua r . C o. v. L a w r e ns on, 334 F . 2d 4 6 4 , 4 6 7 ( 4 th C ir . 1 9 6 4 ) ( in te rn a l q u o ta tio n m a r k s o m itte d ) ) , a n d a ll th a t is r e qui r e d i s tha tthe i nt e rpr e t a t i on be r e a s onabl e , s e e i d. a t728. B e c a us e tha ti s the ca se here , w e m ustaf

fi rm the di stri ctcourt ’ s order . AF F I RME D.