This is just a stylistic comment so don't feel like you need to respond to it.  But here I'd usually write this as...

```java
if ( getRequest().hasArgument( "fromDate" ) ) {
  DateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat(FROM_DATE_FORMAT);
  return dateFormat.parse( getRequest().getArgument( "fromDate" ) );
}

return null;
```

So the same code, but avoiding the need to mutate any variables (dateFrom).  I find trying to keep as much as possible _final_, and then trying remove the need for mutation makes the code simpler and less error-prone.