**PRESERVATION PLAN FOR POST-TRIAL AND APPELLATE RIGHTS** **To:** Marisol Dane, Plaintiff **From:** Counsel **Re:** Deadline Sequence and Appellate Preservation Strategy **Date:** May 2026 Per your instructions, the following plan outlines the critical deadlines required to preserve our rights regarding prejudgment interest, attorney fees, and appealable rulings. This plan adheres to the governing procedural rules and ensures no right is waived by missing a filing window. ### 1. Deadline for Attorney Fees Motion * **Deadline:** **Friday, May 15, 2026** * **Calculation:** The judgment was entered on Friday, May 1. Per Rule 6, we exclude May 1 and begin counting calendar days starting May 2. Day 14 falls on May 15. May 15 is a Friday and not a holiday. * **Action Required:** We must file the motion for attorney fees by this date. * **Answer to Client Question:** **No, the fee motion cannot wait.** Under Rule 3, fee motions must be filed within 14 days of judgment entry. This deadline is independent of any post-trial motion on the merits and does not extend or toll when the court decides our planned rule-1 motion in July. ### 2. Deadline for Rule-1 Motion (Alter Judgment/New Trial) * **Deadline:** **Friday, May 29, 2026** * **Calculation:** Per Rule 1, we have 28 calendar days from entry of judgment (May 1). Excluding May 1 and counting forward, Day 28 falls on May 29. May 29 is a Friday. * **Consequence of Missing:** If not filed by this date, we lose the right to request correction of the interest award ($42,000) or a new trial based on the excluded witness *in the trial court*. The appeal clock for the merits judgment would then expire under the original schedule. ### 3. Original Notice-of-Appeal Deadline * **Deadline:** **Monday, June 1, 2026** * **Calculation:** Per Rule 5, a notice of appeal must generally be filed within 30 calendar days of judgment entry (May 1). Excluding May 1 and counting forward, Day 30 falls on Sunday, May 31. Per Rule 6, because the deadline falls on a Sunday, it moves to the next day the clerk's office is open (Monday, June 1). * **Status:** This deadline is superseded if we file a timely Rule-1 motion, but it represents the "hard stop" if no post-trial motions are filed. ### 4. Effect of the May 8 Reconsideration Motion * **Determination:** **This motion does NOT toll the appeal clock.** * **Reasoning:** The May 8 document was titled “Motion to Reconsider Evidentiary Ruling” and sought only reconsideration of the witness exclusion. Per Rule 4, local motions for interlocutory evidentiary rulings do not alter the judgment and do not toll the appeal period. Furthermore, per Rule 8, because the substance did not request relief available under Rule 1 (altering judgment or new trial), it cannot function as a tolling motion regardless of its label. * **Result:** The original appeal clock continues to run from May 1. It must be tolled by the planned Rule-1 motion filed by May 29. ### 5. Planned Rule-1 Motion: Content and Timing * **Filing Deadline:** Must be filed on or before **Friday, May 29, 2026** (by 11:59 p.m. local court time per Rule 7). * **Required Substantive Request:** Per Rule 8, to successfully toll the appeal clock, the motion must request relief available under Rule 1. Even if labeled a "Motion for Reconsideration," we must explicitly request: 1. **Alteration or Amendment of Judgment:** To add the $42,000 prejudgment interest omitted from the entry; AND/OR 2. **New Trial:** Based on the erroneous exclusion of the witness. * **Strategy:** We will file this motion as a "Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment and for New Trial" to ensure clarity and avoid Rule 8 issues. ### 6. New Notice-of-Appeal Deadline (If July 10 Disposition) * **Assumption:** We file the Rule-1 motion by May 29, and the court enters an order denying it on Friday, July 10, 2026. * **Deadline:** **Monday, August 10, 2026** * **Calculation:** * Per Rule 2, a timely Rule-1 motion tolls the appeal time. A new 30-day period begins when the order disposing of that motion is entered (July 10). * Excluding July 10 (triggering event), we count 30 calendar days starting July 11. * July has 31 days: Days 1–21 account for July 11 through July 31. * We need 9 more days into August: Day 22 (Aug 1) through Day 30 (Aug 9). * The 30th day falls on **Sunday, August 9, 2026**. * Per Rule 6, because the deadline lands on a Sunday, it moves to the next business day: **Monday, August 10, 2026**. ### 7. Notice of Appeal Filing Strategy (Before or After?) * **Recommendation:** File the Notice of Appeal **AFTER** disposition of the Rule-1 motion (i.e., after July 10). * **Reasoning:** While Rule 5 permits a premature notice filed before the July 10 order to "become effective upon disposition," it explicitly states that "filing a proper later notice is safer." By waiting until the July 10 order enters, we avoid potential jurisdictional complications regarding premature filings and ensure our appeal encompasses the denial of the post-trial motion itself. We will have ample time (until August 10) to file after July 10. ### 8. Consequences of Missing Deadlines * **Missing Fee Deadline (May 15):** Waiver of right to recover the $185,000 in attorney fees. This ruling is generally final and may not be revisited on appeal. * **Missing Rule-1 Motion Deadline (May 29):** Waiver of right to amend judgment or seek new trial in the district court. The appeal clock becomes fixed; we must appeal by June 1, and we cannot challenge the interest omission or witness exclusion as part of a post-trial motion record on appeal (jurisdiction limited). * **Missing Original Appeal Deadline (June 1):** If no timely Rule-1 motion was filed, failure to file notice by June 1 results in loss of jurisdiction. The judgment becomes final and unappealable. * **Missing New Appeal Deadline (August 10):** If a timely Rule-1 motion is filed, failure to file the Notice of Appeal by August 10 results in loss of appellate jurisdiction over the merits judgment, the interest correction, and the new trial denial.