Q: If a party serves a notice of ruling minutes before midnight via email, will a few minutes be construed as a day count?
In an unlimited civil matter in California, the notice of ruling was emailed only minutes before midnight when the defendant was asleep and didn't get it until the next morning. Is that reasonably acceptable to count that few minutes as one day when counting calendar days for a deadline to appeal?
Should a person wake up and keep checking his inbox for a possible e-filing email every midnight and then what reaction is possible in the remaining few minutes of that day?
Will the court consider this unreasonable to only look at the date of the time stamp and not the actual time when counting calendar days for -for example- a notice of appeal deadline?
A:
Notice given after normal working day hours will not be effective until the next day. But take no chances when calendaring response due dates. Even if you were given notice electronically, such as by email, you ordinarily have an extra two days added to the time you are supposed to take action based on the notice you were given.
My advice is to get a lawyer to advise you after you provide all the facts and documents relating to your matter. Do that immediately so that the attorney has sufficient time to take action to protect your interests.
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