Vt. Memo to the Bar, Dec. 19, 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: Day is a Day Counting System, Emergency Rule Amendment, and Miscellaneous Info

DATE: December 19, 2017

For your information, please find the following information:

• Emergency Promulgation Order Amending V.R.E.C.P. 4(b)

• Updated Court Forms

• Obligations Under A.O. 41

• eCabinet Registration

The amendments to many procedural rules incorporating the day-is-a-day counting system will

become effective January 1, 2018. Under the new system, for all time periods, a day will be

counted as a day, whether it is a Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or weekday. The main objectives of the

changes are to make the process of calculating time periods more consistent, simpler, and more

predictable. For more information about the rule changes, please read the article on the judiciary

website at https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/news/day-day-changes-vermont-procedural-rules-

regarding-time-computation

I. EMERGENCY PROMULGATED RULE AMENDMENT

Emergency Promulgation Order Amending V.R.E.C.P. 4(b)

This Emergency Order was promulgated on December 6, 2017, effective January 1, 2018.

The amendment to Rule 4(b), as amended September 20, 2017, effective January 1, 2018, is further

amended. The time period in Rule 4(b) for the Attorney General to move the court to vacate an order

was amended from 10 days to 14 days in keeping with the day-is-a-day amendments to V.R.C.P. 6.

The 10-day time period, however, comes directly from a statute. 10 V.S.A. § 8007(c). To avoid any

conflict between the rule and the statute, the rule is amended back to the former time period of 10

days. As of January 1, 2018, the 10-day period will be counted using the day-is-a-day counting

system.

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.