When (in the day) do you file?

There is currently heated debate in the 3d Circuit about whether the filing deadline should be midnight or 5 p.m. This has prompted analysis of when appellate filings actually occur. One study finds:

There were 1,321,506 docket entries made in the courts of appeals in 2018. Most were made between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (89%); 8.9% were made after 5:00 p.m., 4.9% after 6:00 p.m. The number of docket entries made after 6:00 p.m. ranged from 2.3% in the Eighth Circuit to 11% in the District of Columbia Circuit.

Briefs. Attorneys filed 135,561 briefs, 15% of them after 5:00 p.m. and 10% after 6:00 p.m. The number of briefs filed after 6:00 p.m. ranged from 0.26% in the Seventh Circuit and 4.8% in the Eighth Circuit to 20% in the Second Circuit and 29% in the District of Columbia Circuit.

In the Ninth Circuit, of 259,036 docket entries, 3.9% were filed before 8:00, 86% were filed between 8:00 and 5:00, 10% were filed after 5:00, and 6.3% were filed after 6:00. Looking specifically at briefs (29,628 filed), 2.3% were filed before 8:00, 84% were filed between 8:00 and 5:00, 14% were filed after 5:00 and 9.2% were filed after 6:00.