Opinion ID: 1737708
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: authority to enlarge time

Text: [3] Sec. 801.15(2)(a), Stats., provides: (2) (a) When an act is required to be done at or within a specified time, the court may order the period enlarged but only on motion for cause shown and upon just terms. The 60 day period under s. 801.02 may not be enlarged. If the motion is made after the expiration of the specified time, it shall not be granted unless the court finds that the failure to act was the result of excusable neglect. The order of enlargement shall recite by its terms or by reference to an affidavit in the record the grounds for granting the motion. The plaintiffs contend that trial court erred in determining that it had no authority to order an enlargement of time in which to file a complaint. In Wisconsin law, statutes of limitation are not treated as statutes of repose; the expiration of the limitations period creates a right in one party as it extinguishes one in another. Haase v. Sawicki, 20 Wis.2d 308, 311, 121 N.W.2d 876 (1963); quoting from Maryland Casualty Co. v. Beleznay, 245 Wis. 390, 393, 14 N.W.2d 177 (1944). See also: Heifetz v. Johnson, 61 Wis.2d 111, 115, 211 N.W.2d 834 (1973). [4] The Rules enabling statute, sec. 251.18, Stats., 1975, provides in part: 251.18 Rules of pleading and practice. The state supreme court shall, by rules promulgated by it from time to time, regulate pleading, practice and procedure in judicial proceedings in all courts, for the purpose of simplifying the same and of promoting the speedy determination of litigation upon its merits. Such rules shall not abridge, enlarge or modify the substantive rights of any litigant. (Emphasis added.) We are asked to construe sec. 801.15, Stats., to enable an enlargement of time in which to file the complaint and thus begin the action. To do so would affect substantive rights of the parties and violate the Rules enabling provision.