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Charmaine Hamer v. Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 15-3764 · judgment August 31, 2016

Decided · November 8, 2017
At-filing estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

A district court may extend the time to file a notice of appeal in a civil case "upon motion filed not later than 30 days after the expiration of the time otherwise set for bringing appeal, . . . upon a showing of excusable neglect or good cause." 28 U.S.C. § 2107(c). Here, upon timely motion, the district court granted Petitioner Charmaine Hamer ("Ms. Hamer") a sixty-day extension of time to file a notice of appeal. Ms. Hamer filed a notice of appeal within the time set by the district court. The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit nevertheless sua sponte dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. In doing so, the Seventh Circuit concluded that it was deprived of jurisdiction because Ms. Hamer's notice of appeal was filed outside the time permitted by the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, which provide that "[n]o extension under this Rule 4(a)(5) may exceed 30 days after the prescribed time or 14 days after the date when the order granting the motion is entered, whichever is later." Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5)(C). The question presented is as follows: Whether Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(5)(C) can deprive a court of appeals of jurisdiction over an appeal that is statutorily timely, as the Second, Fourth, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits have concluded, or whether Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(5)(C) is instead a nonjurisdictional claim-processing rule because it is not derived from a statute, as the Ninth and D.C. Circuits have concluded, and therefore subject to equitable considerations such as forfeiture, waiver, and the unique-circumstances doctrine.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Jonathan Alan Herstoff
Haug Partners LLP

For respondent
Linda T. Coberly
Winston & Strawn, LLP

Case

Subject area
Judicial Power (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
2 merits
(2 supporting pet./neither)

Argument & decision

Argued October 10, 2017 — Jonathan A. Herstoff · Damien G. Stewart. Listen and read along · the Court’s audio

Decided November 8, 2017. Opinion by Ginsburg.

Proceedings

  1. Dec 11 2017
    JUDGMENT ISSUED.
  2. Nov 08 2017
    Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED. Ginsburg, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
  3. Oct 10 2017
    Argued. For petitioner: Jonathan A. Herstoff, New York, N. Y. For respondents: Damien G. Stewart, Washington, D. C.
  4. Aug 29 2017
    Reply of petitioner Charmaine Hamer filed. (Distributed)
  5. Aug 09 2017
    CIRCULATED
  6. Aug 01 2017
    Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 7th Circuit.
  7. Jul 31 2017
    Brief of respondents Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, et al. filed.
  8. Jul 19 2017
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Tuesday, October 10, 2017.
  9. Jun 08 2017
    The time to file respondents' brief on the merits is extended to and including July 31, 2017.
  10. May 19 2017
    Brief amicus curiae of The American Academy of Appellate Lawyers filed.
  11. May 17 2017
    Brief amicus curiae of Professor Scott Dodson in support of neither party filed.
  12. May 15 2017
    Brief of petitioner Charmaine Hamer filed.
  13. Apr 19 2017
    Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party , received from counsel for respondent Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago.
  14. Apr 11 2017
    Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for respondent Fannie Mae.
  15. Apr 03 2017
    Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner GRANTED.
  16. Mar 21 2017
    Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner Charmaine Hamer.
  17. Mar 08 2017
    The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including May 15, 2017.
  18. Mar 02 2017
    Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for the petitioner.
  19. Feb 27 2017
    Petition GRANTED.
  20. Feb 21 2017
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of February 24, 2017.
  21. Feb 01 2017
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of February 17, 2017.
  22. Jan 30 2017
    Reply of petitioner Charmaine Hamer filed.
  23. Jan 18 2017
    Brief of respondents Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago & Fannie Mae in opposition filed.
  24. Dec 14 2016
    Order extending time to file response to petition to and including January 18, 2017, for all respondents.
  25. Nov 15 2016
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 19, 2016)