Source: http://www.onelegal.com/blog/using-eservice-to-simplify-calendaring-in-california-superior-courts/
Timestamp: 2017-12-14 20:54:59
Document Index: 112290164

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1010', '§ 12', '§ 12', '§ 1005', '§ 12', '§ 1005', '§ 12', '§ 12', '§ 12', '§ 12']

eService Simplifies Calendaring in California Superior Courts » One Legal
Posted by Brooke Greene on March 5, 2015 in California updates, Technology
Last month, we discussed what you need to know about eService in California. Many people don’t know that you are allowed to eServe in all 58 California counties! It not only makes your life easier, it can save you time and money and create efficiencies in your office. Is also simplifies calendaring! Julie Goran, author of Litigation By the Numbers, has written on this very topic. She is an expert on the subject of calendaring. You can follow her on Facebook or check out her website if you are interested in learning more! Check out her article on eService and calendaring below.
eService provides significant advantages over service by mail, fax, or overnight delivery; some pretty obvious, some not so much. The most obvious advantages relate to the savings of trees, time, and money associated with document processing and service itself. In California State Court, another benefit, or more accurately, a series of benefits, relates to calculating deadlines.
In general, it is much easier to calculate deadlines triggered by eService than it is to calendar deadlines triggered by any method other than personal delivery. Even more significant, however, eService of notice of certain types of motions allows the moving party to avoid completely a little-known trap that could very easily result in insufficient notice to opposing parties.
The extension of time for eService is much less confusing than extensions for fax or overnight delivery
This difference among the statutes is unfortunate. It leads to confusion and calendaring errors. A significant number of practitioners and support staff are not even aware that the length of the extension for service by fax or overnight delivery depends upon which statute applies, which, in turn, depends upon what is being served. Indeed, the question: “how much time is added for service by fax or overnight service” is really a trick question; it cannot possibly be answered without more information. Yet, people answer it all of the time.
eService is so much simpler. Under C.C.P. § 1010.6, the extension, if any, is two court days. Period. This is true whether one is calculating the deadline to respond to a discovery demand, the last day to serve a motion to compel, or the last day to serve an MSJ or MSA. So, calendaring as it relates to any eServed document avoids the “is it two court days or two calendar days?” question.
eService does not require adjustments for holidays and weekends
Deadlines based upon calendar days (e.g., service by mail in all instances, service of regular motions by fax or overnight delivery) may initially fall on a weekend or holiday, requiring an adjustment under C.C.P. § 12a(a). Unfortunately, many practitioners and support staff do not know whether to move the deadline forward or backward. With eService, that dilemma never arises. Why? If one is counting court days, the last day can never land on a weekend or holiday.
So, in California State Court, eService generally has benefits over service by mail, fax, and overnight delivery. However, the advantages of eServing notices of motion for regular motions are even more significant.
eService avoids C.C.P. § 12c problems
Calculating the last day to serve notice of a regular motion requires the application of at least two statutes: C.C.P. § 1005 and C.C.P. § 12c. C.C.P. § 1005 requires 16 court days’ notice, with a five calendar day extension for service by mail within California, and a two calendar day extension for service by fax or overnight delivery. The need to combine court days and calendar days in a single calculation is fraught with problems. In that regard, deadline calculations will differ depending upon the order in which one counts the two sets of days (court days first or calendar days first) as well as the direction in which one counts those days (forward from the notice date or backward from the hearing date).
This ambiguity was resolved by the enactment of C.C.P. § 12c, which provides that the last day to serve notice is calculated by counting backward from the hearing date starting with the 16 court days, and then adding the applicable extension. However, there remains a trap that greatly complicates the other end of the motion-related calendaring equation — determining the first available hearing date based on the notice date.
Significant detail and several examples may be found in Certainty in Calculating Hearing-Related Deadlines in California State Court. For now, however, suffice it to say that if, on a Monday or a Tuesday, one were to calculate the first available hearing date for a motion, to be served by mail that same day, by counting forward 16 court days and adding five calendar days, insufficient notice would be given under C.C.P. § 12c. In that regard, if one were to count backward from that hearing date 16 court days plus the applicable calendar day extension as C.C.P. § 12c dictates, the last day for notice would actually be at least three days prior to the service date. Similarly, if, on a Thursday, one were to calculate the first available hearing date for a motion, to be served by fax or overnight delivery that day, by counting forward from the notice date, insufficient notice would be given. The disparity is caused solely by the fact that, sometimes, counting court days and calendar days forward yields a different result than counting them backward, i.e., the reason C.C.P. § 12c was enacted in the first place.
Tagged under:	calendaring California court rules eService
What you need to know about eService in California superior courtsNext Post
Robin Trembath April 8, 2015 at 5:13 PM Reply