public static Date parseDate(String paramValue, Locale locale) { if (StringUtils.isBlank(paramValue)) { return null; } try { Date date = ManagerFactory.getOutlookDateManager().getOutlookDate(locale).parseDatePicker(paramValue); if (date.getTime() < 0) // this is an invalid date { throw new DateTooEarlyException(); } else { return date; } } catch (ParseException e) { log.warn("Could not parse: " + paramValue + " into a date"); } return null; }