LOCAL RULE 6
CONTINUANCES AND EXTENSIONS OF TIME

6.1 GENERALLY. A continuance of any trial, pretrial conference, or other hearing will be granted only by the court on its own motion or on motion of any party. Continuances may not be obtained by stipulation between counsel.

Any extensions of time within which to answer the complaint or an amended complaint by affirmative defenses or other defensive pleadings may be done by written, filed stipulations of counsel, not to exceed more than 30 days from the original answer deadline without approval of the court. Only one such stipulation may be filed per complaint or amended complaint. If a party is unable to obtain a stipulation or if more than thirty (30) days is needed, the party should seek an extension by motion to the court pursuant to Rule 6(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

6.2 EXTENSIONS FOR FILING OF BRIEFS. In civil cases, the clerk of the court and his deputies are authorized to permit extensions of time to a date certain not to exceed fourteen (14) days for the filing of briefs. No more than one (1) such extension may be granted by the clerk for the same brief. Permission of the court must be obtained for any additional extensions. A party requesting an additional extension must do so by written motion filed no later than two (2) business days before the expiration of the extension granted by the clerk. The motion shall state why an additional extension is needed.

6.3 CALCULATION OF TIME.

a. Service by Mail

(1) Time periods less than eleven (11) days. For time periods less than eleven (11) days, the response time is first calculated as directed by Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(a) (excluding weekends and holidays) and then three (3) days for mailing (including
weekends and holidays) is added to the computed date (Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(e)). For example, under Rule 6(a), a ten (10) day reply period becomes at least fourteen (14) days because of intervening weekends (longer if a legal holiday is included) and the period enlarges to seventeen (17) days if service is by mail.

(2) Time periods of eleven (11) days or more. For time periods of eleven (11) days or more, the three day mail extension of Rule 6(e) is added to the stated response time to create a lengthened time period. For example, a response time of twenty (20) days becomes a response time of twenty-three (23) days.

b. Service by Hand Delivery

In cases where service is made by hand delivery, the above calculations will apply with the exception of the three-day mail extension. For example, using the example in paragraph a(1), the response time is fourteen (14) days (fifteen (15) days if a legal holiday is involved); using the example in paragraph a(2), the response time is twenty (20) days.