Under Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, pretrial disclosures must be made at least thirty days before trial. A paralegal, however, must follow Rule 6 of the Federal Rules when docketing a litigation deadline. In the Seinfeld case, trial is set to begin on Tuesday, June 26, but thirty days prior to the trial date falls on Sunday, May 27. What is the deadline for pretrial disclosures?
Explanation
Answer: A - Friday, May 25. Under Rule 6(a)(1)(C), “if the last day is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period continues to run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.” Under Rule 6(a)(5), “’next day’ is determined by continuing to count . . . backward [when the period is] measured before an event.” Here, the deadline is counted backward from June 26, but since thirty days before falls on a Sunday, the deadline is determined by continuing to count backward to Friday, May 25.
