Unfortunately, the old adage “better late than never” makes for terrible advice when applied to bankruptcy law. Indeed, even under the most sympathetic of circumstances, courts are charged with respecting the integrity of deadlines and employing a cool, impartial approach to everyone, including the most desperate of late claimants. This outcome was recently borne out by a recent decision in the Toys “R” Us bankruptcy case—Bravo Sports v. Toys “R” Us, Civil Action No. 3:18-cv-00784-JAG (E.D. Va. Apr. 11, 2019).

After Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy, Bravo Sports—a vendor that supplied the debtors with sporting equipment—continued to do business with the debtors. Bravo delivered nearly $575,000 of goods, entitling it to an administrative claim under Section 503 of the Bankruptcy Code. The Bankruptcy Court set the administrative bar date for July 16, 2018, notice of which was served almost six weeks prior. These communications were all received by Bravo’s controller, who was scheduled to commence maternity leave on July 6, 2018, causing it to hire an interim controller on May 21, 2018. Unfortunately, a medical emergency required the controller to unexpectedly begin maternity leave early, only a few weeks after her replacement joined the company.