Legal Definitions - shortening time

Shortening time is a legal procedure where a court issues an order, typically at the request of one of the parties involved in a lawsuit, to reduce the standard period of notice or response time required by law or court rules for a particular legal action or hearing.

This order is usually granted in situations demanding immediate attention, often when an important deadline, such as a trial date, is rapidly approaching, and a matter needs to be addressed by the judge more quickly than usual to prevent significant harm or prejudice.

Here are some examples illustrating how shortening time might be applied:

• Emergency Request to Stop Harmful Activity: Imagine a situation where a company discovers that a former employee has stolen proprietary information and is about to disclose it to a competitor, causing immediate and irreparable financial damage. The company needs to obtain a court order (an injunction) to stop this disclosure right away.

  How it illustrates the term: Standard court rules might require several days' notice before a hearing on an injunction can take place. However, waiting that long would allow the harm to occur. The company can file a motion to "shorten time," asking the judge to schedule the injunction hearing within 24-48 hours, significantly reducing the standard notice period to address the urgent threat.

• Critical Evidence Dispute Before Trial: A trial is scheduled to begin in two weeks, and one party realizes that the opposing side has failed to provide crucial documents during the discovery phase, despite repeated requests. Without these documents, the party cannot adequately prepare their case.

  How it illustrates the term: Normally, a motion to compel the production of documents would require a standard notice period, meaning the hearing might not occur until after the trial has already started. To ensure the evidence is available before the trial commences, the party can request the court to "shorten time" for the motion hearing, allowing the judge to decide on the dispute within a few days.

• Urgent Child Custody Matter: A parent with shared custody discovers that the other parent is planning to move out of the country with their child in a few days, without prior agreement or court permission, which would violate their custody order.

  How it illustrates the term: The parent can file an emergency motion to prevent the child from being taken out of the country. Given the imminent departure, the court would likely "shorten time" for the hearing on this motion, allowing it to be heard within hours or a day, rather than the typical week or more, to protect the child's best interests and enforce the existing custody arrangement.