Austin v. ABC Legal
- Susan Illston
- 3:21-cv-09076
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Austin v. ABC Legal, Judge Illston denied Austin’s motion to extend the appeal deadline because he did not show good cause.
George Jarvis Austin’s request for more time to file a notice of appeal was denied, and the court set June 30, 2022, as the filing deadline.
What happened
In Austin v. ABC Legal, George Jarvis Austin asked for more time to appeal the final judgment entered on May 31, 2022.
Austin said temporary budget constraints and the holiday season required extending the deadline to December 2022. He filed the request before the original appeal period ended.
Judge Susan Illston denied the motion, finding that Austin’s stated reasons did not establish a plausible or verifiable basis for extending the deadline. The court stated that the notice of appeal was due by June 30, 2022.
The detailed version
- Austin v. ABC Legal · No. 3:21-cv-09076
- Susan Illston
- June 7, 2022
Background
The court had entered final judgment on May 31, 2022. George Jarvis Austin filed motions seeking an extension of the deadline to file a notice of appeal. His motions asked for a later deadline in December 2022 rather than November 2022 and cited temporary budget constraints and the demands of the holiday season.
Legal standard
Federal appellate rules allow a district court to extend the appeal deadline when the motion is filed within the permitted time and the party shows either good cause or excusable neglect. Because Austin filed his motion before the original appeal period expired, the court considered whether he had shown good cause. The court explained that good cause generally requires circumstances that plausibly justify the delay, such as certain serious restrictions on a person's ability to prepare and file legal papers.
Ruling
Judge Susan Illston held that Austin’s budget constraints and the holiday season did not constitute verifiable or plausible good cause for extending the filing deadline by six months. The court therefore DENIED the motion for an extension of time. It stated that the notice of appeal was due no later than June 30, 2022.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.