A New Trend: Motion Denied!

In times past, as regular EDTX patent practitioners can attest to, any time parties needed more time to accomplish a particular task or filing they could simply file an unopposed or agreed motion and the relief was generally automatically granted, no questions asked.  Those days may be quickly coming to an end.  Beginning a few years ago, Judge Davis regularly—and really quite understandably—started denying even agreed upon motions seeking leave for extra pages for motions or responses.  Even very detailed, well thought out requests for additional pages are now routinely denied.  That trend now appears to be spreading to various deadlines, including answer dates, submissions of docket control orders, discovery orders and the like.  Perhaps first seen in supplemental orders issued by Judge Love in Tyler and now being put in place by Judges Gilstrap and Payne in Marshall in regard to various deadlines they will not accept any extensions for, it is clear the courts here are finally cracking down and to some extent cracking the whip on lawyers’ seemingly never ending tendency to procrastinate.    Why do something today, you can put off till tomorrow doesn’t look like a winning strategy anymore in EDTX.  Be forewarned, the advice or suggestion of just filing an agreed motion to get more time is quickly becoming a thing of the past.