Ex Parte Application to Continue Trial in California

An ex parte application to continue trial in California asks the judge to move your trial date on an emergency basis, without waiting the normal 16 court days a noticed motion requires. To get it granted, you have to clear two bars at once: good cause under California Rule of Court 3.1332, and a genuine emergency under Rule 3.1202 that makes waiting for a regular motion impossible. The filing fee is $60.¹ Some courts will not entertain these applications at all and will send you back to file a noticed motion instead, so check your local rules before you draft anything.

What Counts as Good Cause

Rule of Court 3.1332 governs every request to move a California trial date, whether by noticed motion or ex parte. The court will only grant a continuance after an “affirmative showing of good cause,” judged case by case.²

The rule recognizes several situations as good cause:

Unavailability of an essential lay or expert witness due to death, illness, or other excusable circumstances
Unavailability of a party for similar reasons
Unavailability of trial counsel due to death, illness, or comparable circumstances
Substitution of counsel, but only if the change is required in the interests of justice
An unanticipated change in the case that has made it unready for trial through no fault of the party asking

When illness is your reason, a bare declaration that someone is sick will not carry the day. Get a physician’s statement describing the condition, why it prevents the person from appearing, and how long the unavailability is expected to last. Vague claims without medical documentation rarely persuade a judge to disrupt the trial calendar.

The Extra Bar for Ex Parte Relief

Good cause alone is not enough when you are skipping the noticed-motion process. Rule 3.1202 adds a second requirement: your declaration must show, from personal knowledge, that you will suffer “irreparable harm” or face “immediate danger” if the court does not act before a regular hearing could be set.³

In practice, that means the problem must have surfaced so recently that a noticed motion is not feasible. A key witness who fell seriously ill two days before trial qualifies. A scheduling conflict you have known about for weeks does not, and the judge will deny the application and direct you to file a regular motion. Diligence matters. You have to show the situation was genuinely unanticipated and that you moved on it promptly.

How the Judge Will Weigh the Request

Clearing the threshold does not get you the continuance. Rule 3.1332(d) gives the court broad discretion, and the judge will consider factors like these:²

How close the trial date is. A request the week of trial gets more scrutiny than one filed a month out.
Whether any party has already received continuances. Each prior delay makes the next one harder to justify.
The length of continuance you are asking for. Two weeks is easier than six months.
Whether an alternative would solve the problem without moving trial.
Prejudice to other parties and their witnesses, including the cost of rescheduling experts.
Whether the case has statutory preference, such as one involving an elderly or terminally ill plaintiff. Those cases face a higher bar for delay.
The impact on the court’s own calendar.
Whether the parties agree. A stipulated continuance is easier to obtain, though the court is not required to grant one.

An application that ignores the obvious factors reads as unprepared. Address the ones that cut against you before opposing counsel raises them.

Notice to the Other Side

“Ex parte” does not mean the other side is left out. You must notify every other party of your application no later than 10:00 a.m. the court day before your hearing.⁴

Your notice has to state the specific relief you are seeking and give the exact date, time, and place of the hearing. Ask the other side whether they plan to oppose, so the judge knows what to expect. If you cannot reach opposing counsel, your notice declaration must list every attempt: the phone numbers you called, the emails you sent, the times you tried.⁵ A sloppy notice declaration is one of the fastest ways to get bounced before the judge even reaches the merits.

Documents You Have to File

Rule 3.1201 spells out what the filing must contain. Missing any of these pieces can get the application rejected:⁶

The application itself, identifying the case and the parties, stating that you are asking for a continuance, and giving the current trial date and the new date you want if you have one
A supporting declaration laying out the facts that establish good cause and explaining why waiting for a noticed motion would cause irreparable harm. Everything has to be based on personal knowledge, not speculation.
A separate declaration regarding notice, describing when and how you notified the other side, any response you received, and whether opposition is expected
A memorandum of points and authorities, citing the rules and any case law that support your request. Self-represented litigants often forget this one.
A proposed order for the judge to sign

If you have asked for a continuance before in this case, whether by ex parte or noticed motion, you have to disclose every prior request and the court’s ruling. Hiding that history can bring sanctions and will destroy your credibility with the judge.³

The Hearing

File your papers with the clerk’s office or the designated ex parte department by the court’s deadline, generally the day before the hearing. The filing fee is $60 statewide, and it is covered if you have a fee waiver.¹

You or your attorney has to appear at the scheduled time. Expect pointed questions about why you waited, what you did to avoid the conflict, and whether a shorter continuance would fix the problem. If opposing counsel shows up, they get to argue against your request. The judge may grant a shorter continuance than you asked for as a compromise, or deny the request entirely.

Appearing Remotely

Through the end of 2026, California Code of Civil Procedure section 367.75 lets you appear remotely at civil proceedings, including ex parte hearings, as long as you give proper notice to the court and the other parties.⁷ File Judicial Council form RA-010 at least two court days before the hearing.⁸ Some courts have their own online system that replaces the form, so check the court’s website first. Section 367.75 is set to expire on January 1, 2027, so the rules may change after that.

A Continuance Does Not Reopen Discovery

This trap catches litigants who win their continuance and assume they have more time to complete depositions or serve written discovery. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 2024.020, a continued trial date does not reopen discovery. The cutoffs for completing discovery and hearing discovery motions run from the original trial date, not the new one.⁹

To reopen discovery, you need a separate motion under section 2024.050, with a meet-and-confer declaration showing you tried to work it out first. The court will look at your diligence, whether additional discovery would interfere with the new trial date, and whether the other side would be prejudiced. Monetary sanctions can be imposed on whoever loses if their position lacked substantial justification.¹⁰

If you know you will need more discovery time, ask the court to reopen discovery as part of the continuance order, or at least flag the issue in your application so you can file the separate motion promptly.

Watch the Five-Year Deadline

California requires every civil case to be brought to trial within five years of filing. When that deadline passes without a trial, the court must dismiss the case.¹¹ A continuance that pushes trial past the five-year mark can be fatal, and the court has no discretion to save you. Calculate how much time is left on this clock before you file. If a continuance would bring you close to the limit, that is both a reason the court may deny the request and a risk to your case.

If the Application Is Denied

A denial narrows your options but does not always end them.

The usual next step is a noticed motion for continuance under Rule 3.1332, which requires at least 16 court days of advance notice. If trial is too close for that, you can ask the court for an order shortening time, which lets you file and serve the motion on a compressed schedule. Some courts prefer this route and will reject ex parte continuance applications in favor of an order shortening time on a noticed motion.

If both sides agree trial should move, a written stipulation is another path. Court approval is still required under Rule 3.1332(b), so a handshake with opposing counsel does not do it. File the stipulation formally and let the judge sign off.

Sanctions for a Weak Application

Filing an ex parte to delay trial without a real emergency can backfire. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 128.7, every filing carries an implicit certification that it is not being presented to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or inflate litigation costs. If the court decides your continuance request crossed that line, it can impose sanctions on you, your attorney, or both.¹²

Sanctions can include monetary penalties paid to the court, reimbursement of the opposing party’s attorney fees for responding to the application, or non-monetary orders. The statute limits sanctions to what is necessary to deter the conduct, but that still means real money. Beyond the formal penalty, a judge who suspects you of gaming the calendar will be far less sympathetic to any later request you make in the case.

1
Judicial Branch of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026
2
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 3.1332 – Motion or Application for Continuance of Trial
3
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 3.1202 – Contents of Application
4
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 3.1203 – Time of Notice to Other Parties
5
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 3.1204 – Contents of Notice and Declaration Regarding Notice
6
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 3.1201 – Required Documents
7
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 367.75
8
Judicial Council of California. Notice of Remote Appearance (RA-010)
9
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2024.020
10
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2024.050
11
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 583.310
12
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 128.7