J. Aron & Company, Inc. v. S/s Olga Jacob, Her Engines, Tackle, Etc., in Rem, Sterling Navigation Co., Ltd., in Personam

Fifth Circuit

J. Aron & Company, Inc. v. S/s Olga Jacob, Her Engines, Tackle, Etc., in Rem, Sterling Navigation Co., Ltd., in Personam

527 F.2d 416, 21 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 317, 1976 U.S. App. LEXIS 12796

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

DecidedFebruary 18, 1976

Docket75--3575

StatusPublished

Cited by9 cases

This text of 527 F.2d 416 (J. Aron & Company, Inc. v. S/s Olga Jacob, Her Engines, Tackle, Etc., in Rem, Sterling Navigation Co., Ltd., in Personam) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

J. Aron & Company, Inc. v. S/s Olga Jacob, Her Engines, Tackle, Etc., in Rem, Sterling Navigation Co., Ltd., in Personam, 527 F.2d 416, 21 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 317, 1976 U.S. App. LEXIS 12796 (5th Cir. 1976).

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Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Here there was an agreement to extend the time within which to file suit as provided by COGSA, 46 U.S.C. § 1303(6). The agreement expired bn Sunday. The District Court held that filing of suit on the following day, Monday, was not timely. We reach the contrary conclusion and reverse.

*417 The District Court considered inapplicable the common law rule that when an act is to be performed within a given number of days and the last day falls on Sunday, the person charged with acting has the following day to comply. The court relied upon United Fruit Co. v. J. A. Folger & Co., 270 F.2d 666 (C.A.5, 1959), cert. denied, 362 U.S. 911, 80 S.Ct. 682, 4 L.Ed.2d 619 (1960). That case held that such a COGSA extension should be strictly construed and the end-date recognized. It did not, however, speak to application of the common law rule concerning Sundays, for it involved delay from one secular day to another. Application of the usual Sunday rule is not a shift to a loose rather than a strict rule, since it would involve but a single day and that rising from a familiar legal principle.

Furthermore, though not applicable to contracts, F.R.Civ.P. 6(a) permits the next business day to be included in the computation of a period of time which would otherwise end on a Sunday, notwithstanding F.R.Civ.P. 77(a) which provides that the District Court is always open for purposes of filing. Allowing this suit would conform to the spirit of the Rules and would be consistent with the treatment of a COGSA limitation period not modified by agreement between the parties.

Reversed and remanded.

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PER CURIAM:

Here there was an agreement to extend the time within which to file suit as provided by COGSA, 46 U.S.C. § 1303(6). The agreement expired bn Sunday. The District Court held that filing of suit on the following day, Monday, was not timely. We reach the contrary conclusion and reverse.

*417 The District Court considered inapplicable the common law rule that when an act is to be performed within a given number of days and the last day falls on Sunday, the person charged with acting has the following day to comply. The court relied upon United Fruit Co. v. J. A. Folger & Co., 270 F.2d 666 (C.A.5, 1959), cert. denied, 362 U.S. 911, 80 S.Ct. 682, 4 L.Ed.2d 619 (1960). That case held that such a COGSA extension should be strictly construed and the end-date recognized. It did not, however, speak to application of the common law rule concerning Sundays, for it involved delay from one secular day to another. Application of the usual Sunday rule is not a shift to a loose rather than a strict rule, since it would involve but a single day and that rising from a familiar legal principle.

Furthermore, though not applicable to contracts, F.R.Civ.P. 6(a) permits the next business day to be included in the computation of a period of time which would otherwise end on a Sunday, notwithstanding F.R.Civ.P. 77(a) which provides that the District Court is always open for purposes of filing. Allowing this suit would conform to the spirit of the Rules and would be consistent with the treatment of a COGSA limitation period not modified by agreement between the parties.

Reversed and remanded.

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527 F.2d 416, 21 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 317, 1976 U.S. App. LEXIS 12796, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-aron-company-inc-v-ss-olga-jacob-her-engines-tackle-etc-in-ca5-1976.

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