Part Seven A: General District Courts – In General · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 16, 2026
Rule 7A:5 keeps the clerk’s office subordinate to the court on procedural matters. Filing pleadings and maturing a suit or action for hearing involve a series of clerical steps, and Rule 7A:5 gives the court authority to review and correct any of them. A clerical error or a procedural misstep in the clerk’s office does not become the final word — the judge can revisit it.
The second part of the rule gives the court room to extend a filing deadline, and it makes clear that the extension can come after the original deadline has already run. That backward-looking flexibility is what separates Rule 7A:5 from an ordinary extension rule: a party who missed a filing deadline is not automatically out of luck, because the court retains discretion to grant relief even once the clock has expired.
Yes. Rule 7A:5 allows the court to review and correct any step or procedure in the clerk’s office that touches the filing of pleadings or the maturing of a suit or action.
Yes. Rule 7A:5 states that the court may extend the time allowed for filing pleadings in its discretion, and that extension may be granted even though the time originally fixed has already expired.
The rule does not set one. It gives the court discretion to grant an extension even after the original deadline has run, without fixing an outer limit on how late that request may be made.
No. The rule gives the court discretion, not an entitlement — whether to extend a deadline or correct a clerk’s office step is a decision left to the judge in each case.
Any step or procedure touching the filing of pleadings or the maturing of suits or actions, which covers the clerical and administrative handling of a case as it moves toward being ready for hearing.