A party to a lawsuit can easily lose a claim or an appeal by missing a filing deadline. Recently, an employer who filed his own appeal in an unemployment compensation case was advised by the hearing referee that the appeal was not timely filed. The employer produced a United Parcel Service (UPS) tracking slip that indicated that the appeal papers were picked up by UPS on the final day for the employer's appeal. The rule required that an appeal be "postmarked" on or before the appeal deadline. The appellate court upheld the dismissal of the appeal, noting that Pennsylvania courts have consistently held that the term "postmark" means a United States Postal Service postmark.
The United States Post Office can provide customers with various means to prove the date of mailing, including certified or registered mail receipts, a document known as a "proof of mailing" (available for ordinary, first-class mailings), or a simple postmark on the item mailed. If you file a legal document on your own, be sure to secure from the post office the precise means of proof of mailing required by the relevant law. Also, do not use your private postage meter. The courts have held that the marks made by a private postage meter are not postmarks because the meter can be easily manipulated by the user to show any date.