In an open letter to Delaware counsel, Chief Judge Leonard P. Stark has provided clarification on the Court’s new 6 p.m. EST deadline for the filing and service of papers, which will become effective Thursday, October 16. Judge Stark explained that “the 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time deadline applies to every filing and service deadline in every case in the District of Delaware, other than initial pleadings.” Accordingly, “the 6:00 p.m. deadline applies to the exchange among parties of discovery requests and discovery responses, and it applies even if such requests or responses are made by hand delivery.”
Notably, Judge Stark also clarified that “[p]arties will not be permitted to alter the new deadline on a case-by-case basis.” To that end, Judge Stark further explained that “[w]hile each individual Judge retains the discretion to set a different deadline in a specific case with respect to a particular paper, the Judges of the Court agree that this discretion will be exercised rarely (most likely during trial).”
Judge Stark also noted that the new deadline does “not apply to proceedings pending in Bankruptcy Court,” but it “does, of course, apply to bankruptcy appeals and any other bankruptcy-related cases to the extent those cases are on the District Court’s docket.”
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