In California state court, a motion for summary judgment must be served at least 81 calendar days before the hearing, the hearing must be held no later than 30 days before trial, opposition papers are due 20 days before the hearing, and any reply is due 11 days before. Those four numbers drive every California MSJ deadline under Code of Civil Procedure Section 437c, and the rest of the timing rules exist to adjust them for how the papers get delivered.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 437c
Serving the Motion: 81 Calendar Days
The moving party has to serve the notice of motion and every supporting paper on every other party at least 81 calendar days before the hearing. Supporting papers means all of it: the memorandum of points and authorities, the separate statement of undisputed material facts, and each declaration and exhibit you intend to rely on. If a piece of the package arrives late, the court can refuse to consider it.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 437c
Count backward from the hearing date. A June 20 hearing means the last day to serve is March 31. Every day counts, weekends and holidays included. If the final day lands on a weekend or court holiday, the deadline rolls to the next business day.
Extra Days for Non-Personal Service
The 81-day figure assumes personal service. Any other method adds time to account for transit:
- Mail within California: add 5 calendar days, for a total of 86.
- Mail elsewhere in the United States: add 10 calendar days, for a total of 91.
- Mail outside the United States: add 20 calendar days, for a total of 101.
- Fax, express mail, or overnight delivery: add 2 court days.
Electronic service is handled by a separate statute, Code of Civil Procedure Section 1010.6, but the effect is the same: add 2 court days to the 81-day period.2California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1010.6
Watch the difference between calendar days and court days. Court days exclude weekends and judicial holidays, so two court days can span four or more calendar days depending on where they fall on the calendar. Miscounting is one of the most common MSJ scheduling errors, and it almost always hurts the party bringing the motion.
Opposition: 20 Calendar Days Before the Hearing
Once the motion is served properly, the opposing party has to file and serve opposition papers at least 20 calendar days before the hearing. The opposition must include a separate statement that responds to each fact the moving party listed as undisputed, saying whether the opposing party agrees or disagrees. Skipping that separate statement is dangerous on its own: the court can grant the motion on that basis alone.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 437c
Reply: 11 Calendar Days Before the Hearing
The moving party then has until at least 11 calendar days before the hearing to file a reply. Replies are narrow. You can respond to arguments in the opposition, but you cannot introduce new evidence, raise new material facts, or file a new separate statement that wasn’t part of the moving papers.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 437c
Both the 20-day and 11-day periods can be adjusted for good cause, but good cause is a real standard. Expect to explain concretely why you need the extra time and what prejudice would follow without it.
The 30-Day Trial Cutoff Sets Your Latest Hearing Date
Every other deadline sits under a hard ceiling: the hearing must take place no later than 30 calendar days before trial. If trial is December 1, the latest possible hearing is November 1, and the latest possible service date is 81 days (plus any service-method extension) before that hearing.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 437c
Good cause can waive the 30-day cutoff, but that is the exception. If you decide late that you want to bring an MSJ and the calendar doesn’t fit, moving the trial date is often the only realistic path.
When the Opposing Party Needs More Time
An opposing party who cannot yet present essential facts has a specific remedy. On a showing that facts essential to opposing the motion may exist but cannot be presented, the court must either deny the motion, grant a continuance to allow further discovery, or order another appropriate remedy. The request can be made by ex parte application any time up to and including the date the opposition is due.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 437c
This matters most when the motion arrives early, before depositions are done or documents produced. The supporting declaration needs to identify what specific facts are expected, why they matter to the opposition, and what discovery would uncover them. General statements that more discovery is needed rarely succeed.
What Happens If You Miss a Deadline
For the moving party, late service is effectively fatal. The 81-day notice is mandatory, and courts treat it as jurisdictional for purposes of the motion. Miss it and the motion gets denied, often with no time left to refile before trial.
California Rule of Court 3.1300(d) tells the clerk not to reject a paper at the filing window just because it is untimely, but the court still has discretion to refuse to consider it. So the clerk will take your late papers and the judge can disregard them.3California Courts. California Rules of Court, Rule 3.1300
For the opposing party, the risk looks different. If you file no opposition or leave out the separate statement, the court can treat the moving party’s facts as undisputed and grant the motion. It is not automatic, because the court still checks whether the moving party met its initial burden, but it puts you in a bad position.
Summary Adjudication Runs on the Same Clock
A motion for summary adjudication targets individual claims or defenses instead of the whole case. Under Section 437c it “shall proceed in all procedural respects as a motion for summary judgment,” so every deadline above applies: the 81-day service window, the service-method extensions, the 20-day opposition, the 11-day reply, and the 30-day trial cutoff.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 437c
One boundary worth flagging: none of these deadlines apply in federal court. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 lets a party file for summary judgment any time until 30 days after the close of all discovery unless a local rule or court order says otherwise, and the specifics come from the district’s local rules and the judge’s scheduling order rather than a fixed 81-day framework.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment Check the case caption if you aren’t sure which court you’re in; the answer decides which calendar governs.