426 F.3d 1041

In re Patricia A. Dwyer, Debtor. Patricia A. DWYER, Appellant, v. Vincent J. DUFFY, Appellee.

No. 04-55044.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Sept. 14, 2005.

Filed Oct. 13, 2005.

*1042Don E. Lanson, Greenberg & Bass, En-cino, CA, for the appellant.

Bruce Adelstein, Law Office of Bruce Adelstein, Los Angeles, CA, for the appel-lee.

Before: GRABER and W. FLETCHER, Circuit Judges, and FOGEL,* District Judge.

GRABER, Circuit Judge.

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit (“BAP”) held that the Friday after Thanksgiving is a “legal holiday” in California, within the meaning of Rule 9006 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. On de novo review, Carrillo v. Su (In re Su), 290 F.3d 1140, 1142 (9th Cir.2002), we agree and, accordingly, affirm.

*1043Appellant Patricia Dwyer filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. The bankruptcy court sent out a Notice of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy to Dwyer’s creditors and other interested parties. The Notice listed various deadlines, including the last date on which a complaint objecting to the bankruptcy could be filed, which was given as November 29, 2002, the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Appellee Vincent Duffy, who is Dwyer’s former husband, filed an objection to the bankruptcy on December 2, 2002, which fell on the Monday following Thanksgiving — three days after the deadline given in the Notice. Dwyer moved to dismiss the complaint as untimely. The bankruptcy court granted the motion, concluding that the day after Thanksgiving is not a “legal holiday” that extends the time for filing until the following Monday. Duffy appealed, and the BAP reversed, holding that Duffy’s complaint was filed on time. Duffy v. Dwyer (In re Dwyer), 303 B.R. 437 (B.A.P. 9th Cir.2003). The question reaches us on Dwyer’s timely appeal from the BAP’s decision.

The Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure require that a party file an adversary complaint to a bankruptcy proceeding within 60 days of the meeting of creditors. Fed. R. Bankr.P. 4004(a).1 That 60-day period is extended to the next business day if the filing deadline falls on a “legal holiday.” Fed. R. Bankr.P. 9006(a).2 Rule 9006 lists certain days as “legal holidays,” including Thanksgiving Day but not including the day after Thanksgiving. Id. Rule 9006 goes on to define “legal holiday,” however, as “any other day appointed as a holiday ... by the state in which the court is held.” Id. (emphasis added).

The California Government Code lists various holidays that the state recognizes. Cal. Gov’t Code § 6700. Thanksgiving is on the list, but the day after Thanksgiving is not mentioned. Id. § 6700(o). Nevertheless, section 6700 is neither exclusive nor exhaustive with respect to holidays recognized by California courts. The California Civil Procedure Code appoints, in addition to the state holidays listed in section 6700, certain “judicial holidays.” Cal.Civ.Proc.Code § 135. Section 135 of the California Civil Procedure Code specifies that the day after Thanksgiving is just such a judicial holiday. Id.3

*1044Our inquiry focuses on those days that the California courts recognize as “holidays” because the purpose of Bankruptcy Rule 9006(a) is to provide procedural uniformity among all the courts within a particular state. See 4B Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1162, at 503 n. 15 (3d ed.2002) (noting that the purpose behind Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, after which Bankruptcy Rule 9006 was modeled and which contains identical text regarding legal holidays, is statewide procedural uniformity among courts). Rule 9006 allows lawyers and litigants within a state to rely on one legal calendar in calculating deadlines, regardless of the court in which the case is filed, thereby preventing procedural pitfalls for those accustomed to the state-court system. In keeping with that purpose, Rule 9006 requires only that the day in question be “appointed as a holiday” — not necessarily as a “legal holiday” — by the state in which the bankruptcy court is located.

For the California courts’ purposes, the terms “holiday” and “judicial holiday” are interchangeable. Section 135 of the California Civil Procedure Code states that the term “judicial holiday” encompasses the “holidays” listed in section 6700, with a few exceptions that are not relevant here. See Cal.Civ.Proc.Code § 135 (stating that “[e]very full day designated as a holiday by Section 6700 ... is a judicial holiday”). And the California Civil Procedure Code defines “holidays” as any “judicial holidays.” Cal.Civ.Proc.Code § 10.

California courts treat judicial holidays exactly as they do the state holidays listed in section 6700. The state courts are generally closed on judicial holidays. See Cal. Civ.Proc.Code § 134(a) (providing that “the courts shall be closed for the transaction of judicial business on judicial holidays” but providing for a few exceptions). Even if a court remains open, which it may do at its discretion for various reasons, the judicial holiday still does not count for purposes of calculating deadlines. Id. § 134(d).4 Additionally, documents that are lodged with the clerk’s office on a judicial holiday will not be filed until the next business day. Id. For that reason, a document presented to a California court on the day after Thanksgiving will not be filed until the following Monday. In short, the California courts treat the state holidays recognized in Government Code section 6700 the same as the judicial holidays provided for in Civil Procedure Code section 135. We therefore hold that the day after Thanksgiving, which is a “judicial holiday” under the latter section, is “appointed as a holiday” by California and thus is a “legal holiday” under Bankruptcy Rule 9006 for California practitioners.

AFFIRMED.

Dwyer v. Duffy (In re Dwyer)
426 F.3d 1041

Case Details

Name
Dwyer v. Duffy (In re Dwyer)
Decision Date
Oct 13, 2005
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426 F.3d 1041

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United States

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