PART I — FOUNDATION
Rule 5. Extensions, expedition, and abeyance
Motion required
A party seeking to change a deadline must file a motion before the deadline expires. The motion must state:
the existing deadline;
the requested deadline;
the specific reason;
all prior extensions;
whether the proceeding is expedited; and
every other party’s position, or the efforts made to obtain it.
Standard
The Court or, when authorized, the Clerk may extend a nonjurisdictional period for good cause. After a period expires, relief requires excusable neglect and a showing that the delay did not materially prejudice another party. Workload, standing alone, ordinarily is insufficient.
Nonextendible periods
No Justice, Clerk, stipulation, or administrative order may extend:
a period fixed by the Constitution;
the twenty-eight-day period for an Administrative Court appeal;
a period a statute declares nonextendible or jurisdictional; or
another period these Rules expressly make nonextendible.
Expedition
For good cause, including imminent loss of appellate jurisdiction, liberty, office, evidence, or effective relief, the Court may shorten a response or briefing period, advance argument, or decide on existing papers. The Court must provide as much notice and opportunity to respond as circumstances permit.
Abeyance
The Court may hold a matter in abeyance when another proceeding, settlement effort, legislation, office succession, or event may materially affect it. A party must report the status at intervals fixed by the order and notify the Court within twenty-four hours of a material development.
Clerk authority
The Clerk may grant one unopposed extension of no more than three days for a brief, record appendix, or non-dispositive response if:
the request is timely;
the case is not expedited;
no statute fixes the period; and
no prior extension has been granted for that filing.
Any other request must be decided by a Justice or the Court.