Deadlines • Court
Court deadlines: how to avoid missing a procedural deadline
A missed procedural deadline can close a case for good and expose the lawyer to liability. Most overruns come from deadlines noted on paper or simply forgotten. Below you'll see how to avoid missing a procedural deadline, step by step, with a central calendar and automated alerts.
The steps (short answer)
- Record every court deadline in the same calendar, linked to its matter.
- Calculate the deadline from the date of service and check whether it runs in working or calendar days.
- Schedule automated alerts 7, 3 and 1 day before the deadline.
- Assign each deadline to a responsible lawyer, so nothing goes unwatched.
- Double-check critical deadlines — appeal, second appeal, objection — with a colleague.
Why deadlines get missed
- Deadlines are noted in several places and none of them is complete.
- There is no alert, so the deadline appears suddenly on the due day.
- The calculation starts from the wrong date — ruling instead of service.
- The responsible lawyer is away and nobody picks up the deadline.
Table: alert rule and its effect
Alert rules for court deadlines
| Rule | What it prevents |
|---|---|
| 7-day alert | Leaves time to prepare the procedural document |
| 3-day alert | Catches deadlines that slipped attention |
| 1-day alert | The last check before the due date |
| Double-check | Reduces risk on appeal deadlines |
Real example
Example: a firm with 60 active matters missed an appeal deadline because it was noted only in the personal diary of a lawyer on leave. After moving every deadline into a shared calendar with alerts 7, 3 and 1 day ahead, not a single deadline was missed the following year.
How 4lawyers helps
- A central court-deadline calendar, linked to each matter.
- In-app alerts for the firm's team ahead of every deadline.
- Sync with portal.just.ro, so hearing dates from pending cases reach the calendar.