Effective tomorrow, October 16, 2014, the filing deadline for pleadings filed with the United States District Court for the District of Delaware will be 6:00 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time. Per the letter from Chief Judge Leonard Stark, “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.” The new rule also applies to exchanges of discovery requests and discovery responses, even if hand-delivered.

Bankruptcy practitioners should be advised that, per Chief Judge Stark, the new deadline DOES APPLY to bankruptcy appeals and any other bankruptcy-related cases to the extent those cases are on the District Court’s docket.