In an order designed to terrify civil, domestic and appellate lawyers, the South Carolina Court of Appeals, in an August 26, 2015 order in the case of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Fallon Properties, SC, LLC, 413 S.C. 642, 776 S.E.2d 575 (Ct. App. 2015), dismissed an appeal as untimely because it determined that the notice requirement to set the deadline to appeal began when the appellant received email notice that the order had been filed. Evidently, email notice is now sufficient notice for the deadline requirement of Rule 203(b)(1), SCACR–the rule which governs appeals from circuit court. Since the provision regarding appeals from family court, Rule 203(b)(3), SCACR, is identical (except for juvenile proceedings), email notice is now apparently sufficient for family court appeal deadlines too.
Under Rule 203(b)(1), SCACR, “A notice of appeal shall be served on all respondents within thirty (30) days after receipt of written notice of entry of the order or judgment.” The issue in Wells Fargo Bank was whether email receipt of the filed order (or even notice that the order has been filed) was sufficient to trigger this deadline. Appellant received email notice of the filed order on December 15, 2014 and mailed notice of the filed order on December 18, 2014. It served the notice of appeal on January 15, 2015, twenty-eight days after receipt of the mailed notice but thirty-one days after receipt of the emailed notice. The Court of Appeals’ order dismisses the appeal as untimely.
While I have cautiously taken the position that email notice starts the deadline for the purpose of my filing a notice of appeal, my personal belief is that email notice is probably not sufficient under the Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 5(b)(1), SCRCP lists numerous methods that orders may be served. Facsimile and email are not among those listed methods. The problem is particularly acute in Charleston County, where the Courtplus system sends email notifications to attorneys who subscribe to it when orders have been filed. An email like the following is now sufficient notice to trigger the deadline:
This is true even though it might be days before I receive the actual order unless I take affirmative steps to go online and download the order (which is usually not available until the next business days and may never be available online if the file is sealed, as it is in adoption actions). Note too that this email was received after 5:00 p.m. on a Friday, meaning it will be three or more days before I can even retrieve it online.
Because the Court of Appeals’ interpretation of Rule 203(b)(1), SCACR may conflict with the service rules of Rule 5(b)(1), SCRCP, it is possible the Supreme Court may reverse this determination. Until it does, attorneys and litigants should treat email notice as triggering deadlines and should obtain orders promptly if they receive Courtplus notifications.
Scary. What if the attorney is out of town under an Order of Protection?
The law is unclear. I suggest monitoring email when one is on vacation.
Can you not sign up for the email notice, or is it required? If I’m reading this right, it is not applicable to the 10 day Motions to Reconsider. Is it “received email notice” which means the after 5:00 Friday notice would not have been received until Monday? You are right. This is going to be a nightmare.
Since Rule 59(b), SCRCP, uses the same ” after the receipt of written notice of the entry of judgment or of the filing of an order” language as Rule 203(b)(1), SCACR, I assume email notice also starts the deadline for motions to reconsider.
I find this scary as well due to issues within the system that could result in not getting the notice. I have sent emails that don’t get kicked back for weeks due to some internal error. Rare, but it does happen.