Vt. Memo to the Bar, Sept. 21, 2017

SUPREME COURT OF VERMONT

OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR

PATRICIA GABEL, ESQ. Mailing Address

State Court Administrator Office of the Court Administrator

patricia.gabel@vermont.gov 109 State Street

Montpelier, VT 05609-0701

Telephone (802) 828-3278

FAX: 802 828-3457

www.vermontjudiciary.org

TO: Members of the Vermont Bar

FROM: Patricia Gabel, State Court Administrator

RE: Promulgated Rule Amendments and Miscellaneous Information

DATE: September 21, 2017

For your information, please find the following “Day is a Day” Amendments:

• Appellate

• Civil

• Criminal

• Environmental

• Family,

• Juror

• MCLE

• Probate

• Small Claims

• Updated Court Forms

• Obligations Under A.O. 41

• eCabinet Registration

I. PROMULGATED RULE AMENDMENTS

“Day is a Day” Amendments to Appellate, Civil, Criminal, Environmental, Family, Juror, MCLE,

Probate, and Small Claims

These Orders were promulgated on September 20, 2017, effective January 1, 2018. The

amendments to various rules adopt the “day is a day” rule, a simplified method of computing time

periods adopted in 2009 amendments to the federal rules. Under the former rules, a period of 11

days or more was computed differently than a period of 10 days or less. The shorter time periods did

not count intervening Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays. Under the amended rules, all deadlines

are computed the same way no matter the length—all days, including intermediate Saturdays,

Sundays, and legal holidays, are counted. If the period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday,

the deadline falls on the next business day.

Because periods of 10 days or less would be shortened by the inclusion of intermediate

Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, the shorter time periods have been extended. Most time

periods are changed to use multiples of 7 so that time periods will end on a week day. In general,

the amendments change periods of 3 days to 5 days, 5 days to 7 days, 10 and 15 days to 14 days,

20 days to 21 days, 45 and 50 days to 42 and 49 days. Thirty-day time periods remain

unchanged. Several 10-day time periods are enlarged to 28 days for consistency with the federal

standard for motion practice

The amendments to V.R.C.P. 6(e) and V.R.Cr.P. 45(e), providing an additional 3 days for

actions required after service, adopt the simplified language of F.R.C.P. 6(d) and F.R.Cr.P. 45(c),

as amended in 2005 and 2007, and follow the federal rule in effect until December 2016 by

adding the additional 3 days after service by electronic means if permitted or required under

V.R.C.P. 5(b)(4).

The amendments retain the language of the former rules making the computation provisions

apply to a time period in “any applicable statute.” By Act 11 of 2017, the Legislature amended a

number of statutory procedural time periods of 10 days to 14 days and of less than 10 days to be

expressly “business days.” For consistency, the amendments add “business days” to time periods

in rules that were taken from one of the amended statutes and a definition of “business day” is

added.

II. MISCELLANEOUS

a. Court Forms

Court forms are constantly being updated. Please refer to the judiciary website for the most

up-to-date forms. https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/court-forms

b. Obligation under A.O. 41

Attorneys are reminded that an “attorney must report to the State Court Administrator within

thirty days any change of the office mailing or electronic mail address” and that “[n]otice sent to a

reported address is sufficient even if not received by the attorney because of failure to report the

proper address or failure of delivery not caused by the court.” A.O. 41, § 4(c); see A.O. 44, § 1.

Please email those changes to JUD.AttyLicensing@vermont.gov. Your cooperation is very

much appreciated.

To ensure you continue to receive these emails, please add JUD.AttyLicensing@vermont.gov

to your Safe Senders list.

c. eCabinet Registration

Administrative Order No. 44 requires attorneys in active status to register up to three email

addresses in eCabinet for purposes of receiving notices of hearing and other documents. You

may include staff email addresses in the three email addresses that you specify. eCabinet

registration is required whether you practice in court or not.

If you have already registered in eCabinet, the email address(es) you provided as part of that

process will be used.

If you have not already registered in eCabinet, please go to

https://efiling.eservices.crt.state.vt.us/, click Register Now, and follow the simple prompts.

Attorneys will need their attorney license numbers to register. Helpful information about the

Attorney Email Registration process is also available on the Electronic Filing page of the

judiciary website at https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermont-judiciary/electronic-

access/electronic-filing. Please contact jud.helpdesk@vermont.gov or call the Helpdesk at 802-

828-4357 with any questions in the meantime.

You are also reminded that you are required to update the email address(es) and other contact

information you have registered as soon as there are any changes, including changes to staff

email addresses you may have included with your registration. To revise the information, please

go to https://efiling.eservices.crt.state.vt.us/, log into eCabinet, click “Account,” choose “My

Profile,” and make the necessary changes to your contact information.

Notification to JUD.AttyLicensing@vermont.gov or in eCabinet of a change to your contact

information does not automatically notify the other. It is your responsibility to notify both. If you

are a member of the Vermont Bar Association, you will also need to separately notify the VBA.