Fax Filing Follies: Tenn. Civ. P. R. 5A.03 saves the day

Picture this: You have arrived at the final draft of your motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment. The client has signed off on the document. You and your paralegal are compiling the exhibits and double-checking citations. You call the clerk’s office in which you are about to file to double-check the logistics of the filing process—page limits, availability of e-filing or fax filing, or in-person filing. You are assured that you can fax file your motion. Then, a bomb drops: the clerk informs you that anything filed after their office’s closing time will be file-stamped for the next business day.

You’re panicked. While your document is mostly ready to go, you want to give it a final look over before filing. But you’re running out of time, and you end up filing on the correct day, but after the office’s closing time. Have you completely lost your motion before reaching the merits of your claim or defense?

The answer: Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 5A.03. The rule states:

A facsimile transmission received by the clerk after 4:30 p.m. but before midnight, clerk’s local time, on a day the clerk’s office is open for filing shall be deemed filed as of that business day. A facsimile transmission received after midnight but before 8:00 a.m., clerk’s local time, on a business day, or a facsimile transmission received by the clerk on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or other day on which the clerk’s office for filing is closed, shall be deemed filed on the preceding business day. Upon receiving a facsimile transmission in its entirety, the clerk shall note the filing date on the facsimile filing in the same manner as with original pleadings or other documents filed by mail or in person. For purposes of this provision, “received by the clerk” means the date and time the facsimile transmission is received by the clerk as indicated by the date and time printed on the facsimile transmission by the clerk’s facsimile machine.

This rule unifies the state filing deadlines, simplifying the rules such that lawyers across the state of Tennessee—regardless of the court and the method of filing—have a common time for filing deadlines.

However, some courts maintain local rules that directly contradict this common rule. For example, Rule 11.02(B) of the Local Rules of Procedure for the 16th Judicial District Circuit and Chancery Courts states that:

Facsimile machines will be operational during regular office hours on Judicial Days. Machines may be operational before and after business hours. Facsimile transmissions received after 4:15 p.m. will be considered to be filed the following business day.

Unfortunately, Rutherford County is not the only court with rules or practices out of step with the TRCP. Several circuit and chancery courts throughout Tennessee are served by clerks whose rules or practices contradict TRCP 5A.03.

Thankfully, the Tennessee Supreme Court has accounted for this. Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 18 states:

Each judicial district may also adopt other uniform rules not inconsistent with the statutory law, the Rules of the Supreme Court, the Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Rules of Civil Procedure, the Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Rules of Juvenile Procedure, and the Rules of Evidence.

Thus, Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 5A.03 supersedes conflicting local rules so lawyers can have the common filing time that the Tennessee Supreme Court contemplated. So, the next time a clerk date-stamps your file for the wrong day, Rule 5A.03 can come in handy if opposing counsel wants to litigate it.