Remember when we discussed the impending changes to the Federal Rules and the adoption of the new "days are days" time calculation standard?

Well, even though we live here in South Florida, it appears that things are actually under control, in that Chief Judge Moreno just signed this Administrative Order reconciling our local rules with the new changes.

Sure it took a few tries, but the main thing is they got it right:

Due to several discrepancies in the attachments to Administrative Order 2009-34 and Supplemental Administrative Order 2009-34, the Court vacates those orders.

This Administrative Order is intended to supercede those orders in their entirety.

For the reasons set forth below, the petition of the Ad Hoc Committee on Rules and Procedures for an Administrative Order concerning the calculation of time periods under the Local Rules is GRANTED.

This Court amends its various local rules on an annual cycle corresponding to the issuance of new rules books for Florida federal practitioners by West Publishing Company, after a period of public comment, notice, and an opportunity to be heard in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 83 and Fed. R. Crim. P. 57.

Substantial changes to the manner in which dates are calculated in the various Federal Rules of Procedure have been approved this year and will go into effect on December 1, 2009. The Committee has prepared corresponding amendments to the Local Rules, the Discovery Handbook, the Rules Governing Attorney Discipline, the Magistrate Judge Rules, and the Admiralty Rules.

These, however, will not go into effect until April 15, 2010, subject to the notice and comment procedures described above.

To avoid any discrepancy between the manner in which time is calculated under the various Federal Rules of Procedure and the Local Rules of this District during the interim period of December 1, 2009 when the amendments to the Federal Rules go into effect and April 15, 2010 when the corresponding amendments to the Local Rules will go into effect, the Committee has requested that time-calculation changes to the above rules be set forth as an attachment to an Administrative Order,
to be in effect during the interim period. The Court has determined that this is appropriate, and it is

ORDERED that the modifications to the Local Rules, the Discovery Handbook, the Rules Governing Attorney Discipline, the Magistrate Judge Rules, and the Admiralty Rules shown on the attached table shall be effective as of December 1,2009. This Order shall expire on April 15,201 0.

It is further

ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court is directed to post this Order, with the attached table, on the Court's website, and to take such other measures as he deems necessary to advise members of the Bar of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida of the forthcoming changes in time calculations in the Local Rules.

Thanks to the Chief Judge and all the folks working on this for your hard work and diligence.

(I wonder if the Ad Hoc Committee can do something about that new pleading standard I've heard something about.......)

I don't know about you, but a significant part of my day consists of haranguing my paralegals and young associates regarding calendaring of motions and response times.

Frankly, it's often a highlight -- watching them use their hands, fingers, and other body parts to count, forgetting holidays no one knew existed, and getting wrong which day to start or stop counting and why.

Good times.

Unfortunately, those days will soon be gone:

On December 1, 2009, unless Congress acts otherwise, the way you compute time in federal litigation will change significantly. The Supreme Court has transmitted new rules to Congress that institute a “days are days” approach to computing the time periods in the appellate, civil, bankruptcy, and criminal rules. The new rules will include intermediate weekend days and holidays in calculating deadlines. Thus, the Court has also adopted amendments to a number of the rules that extend virtually all short deadlines. Of course, the district courts will have to revise their Local Rules accordingly, which may lead to some confusion if the revisions are not made quickly or accurately.

Who is in charge of coordinating the Local Rules -- "quickly and accurately" -- assuming these changes go through?

Oh boy, somebody better get on this fast.

UPDATED -- At Scotty's request and because he's such a good sport, I have included what some might argue are more flattering photos of our resident rule-writing king.

(To be honest, I'm not sure about that last one)