As this is being written, the office is quiet because it’s a federal holiday, and the weather forecasters are predicting Snowmageddon (defined as a 1% or more chance of one or more particles of frozen precipitation falling anywhere in the metropolitan area).  So one’s thoughts naturally turn to profound philosophical questions, like “when do filing deadlines get postponed under the Texas and federal rules of appellate procedure?”

The answer to that question turns on other, more basic questions.  The first is: “does the deadline fall on a Saturday or Sunday?”  If the answer is yes, the deadline rolls forward at least to Monday.

The second question is simple to state, but not quite as simple to answer: “does the deadline (meaning the original or rolled-forward deadline) fall on a legal holiday?”  Resorting to the Texas Government Code, we find that the legal holidays are the national holidays and most of the state holidays.  The national holidays are New Year’s Day; Martin Luther King, Jr., Day; Presidents’ Day; Memorial Day; Independence Day; Labor Day; Veterans Day; Thanksgiving Day; and Christmas Day.  The federal courts (but not the Texas courts) add Columbus Day to this list, along with any day declared a holiday by the President or Congress.

The qualifying state holidays are Confederate Heroes Day (January 19); Texas Independence Day (March 2); San Jacinto Day (April 21); Emancipation Day in Texas (June 19); Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (August 27); and the Friday after Thanksgiving Day (hey – clerks have to shop, too!).  The day of the finals of the Terlingua Chili Cook-off should be included, but isn’t.

This list is relevant in federal appeals coming from Texas, inasmuch as the federal appellate rules postpone deadlines falling on any other day declared a holiday by the state where the relevant district court is located.  Those rules also postpone deadlines for holidays declared by the state where the circuit clerk’s principal office is located; additional Louisiana holidays are the Battle of New Orleans (January 8); Good Friday; Confederate Memorial Day (June 3); Huey P. Long Day (August 30); and All Saints’ Day (November 1).  And in Louisiana (but not in Texas), the Monday after January 1, July 4, or December 25 is included when those holidays fall on a Sunday.

The final question is “is the clerk’s office closed or inaccessible on the deadline?”  Although one may wonder why it still matters in an era of near-universal e-filing, deadlines are postponed when they fall on a day when the clerk’s office is inaccessible during regular hours.  Texas appellate courts go one step further by including any day when the clerk’s office is closed.

Finally, the Supreme Court of Texas can modify or suspend Texas appellate deadlines during the pendency of a disaster declared by the governor.

Take care – these are holidays under the appellate rules.  Depending on the jurisdiction and the circumstances, the deadlines for filing appeal-related documents in a trial court may be governed by the civil procedure rules, with a different set of deadline-extension rules in play.

So add it up – in a Fifth Circuit appeal from Texas, you have 20 chances a year that your deadline will fall on a holiday; in Texas state appeals, 15.  Oh, yes, and good luck convincing the Fifth Circuit clerk that your brief due on April 21 is really not due until April 22.