A motion for reconsideration in California must be filed within 10 days after you’re served with written notice of entry of the order, presented to the same judge who issued it, and supported by a declaration showing new or different facts, circumstances, or law that weren’t before the court the first time. Code of Civil Procedure Section 1008 controls the process, and its requirements are strict: the deadline is jurisdictional, and rehashing the same arguments with the same evidence will not work.
The 10-Day Deadline Runs From Service, Not the Hearing
The clock starts when you’re served with written notice of entry of the order, not when the judge announced the ruling from the bench and not when the order was signed. You have 10 days from that service date to file.
Section 1008(e) frames the statute as specifying the court’s jurisdiction over reconsideration applications. In practical terms, a late motion may be treated as something the judge has no power to hear, no matter how strong the new evidence is. Ten calendar days is tight once you account for locating supporting evidence, drafting a declaration, preparing the motion papers, and serving all other parties, so the evaluation has to start the moment the notice arrives.
What Qualifies as New Facts, Circumstances, or Law
Section 1008(a) requires “new or different facts, circumstances, or law” that the court didn’t consider originally. Three situations typically qualify: evidence that came to light after the hearing and couldn’t have been found earlier through reasonable diligence, a material change in the factual situation, or a new statute or appellate decision that shifts the legal analysis. A declaration from a previously unavailable witness, a recent published opinion on point, or a genuine change in the opposing party’s circumstances can all support the motion.
The explanation for why the information wasn’t presented earlier matters as much as the information itself. Your declaration has to lay out what you knew before, what changed, and why reasonable effort wouldn’t have surfaced this earlier. Judges draw a hard line between genuinely new evidence and material a party forgot to raise, chose to hold back, or now wishes had been argued differently. If the court suspects you saved something for a second attempt, the motion fails.
The burden is entirely on the moving party to show the new information would realistically change the decision, not merely add another data point to the same analysis.
What Has to Be in the Motion
Procedural defects can sink the motion before a judge reaches the merits. A few requirements matter most.
The Supporting Declaration
Section 1008(a) requires a sworn affidavit or declaration covering specific ground: what motion or application was originally made, when it was made and before which judge, what the court decided, and what new facts, circumstances, or law you’re now presenting. The declaration is the vehicle for the entire argument, and it has to be detailed enough to show exactly how the new information changes the analysis.
Same Judge, Same Court
The motion goes back to the judge who made the original order. That judge weighed the evidence the first time and decides whether the new information warrants a different result. If the original judge is unavailable because of reassignment, retirement, or other reasons, a successor judge can hear it, but the filing stays in the same court.
The Memorandum and Page Limits
California Rule of Court 3.1113 requires a memorandum of points and authorities. The opening memorandum is capped at 15 pages and any reply at 10 pages, excluding the caption page, exhibits, declarations, and proof of service. If your argument genuinely won’t fit, you can apply to the court for permission to file a longer brief, but the request must be made at least 24 hours before the memorandum is due.
Service and Filing Fee
Notice of the motion must be served on every other party under California’s standard service rules, with supporting memoranda and declarations attached to the notice to the extent practicable. As of 2026, the filing fee for a motion or other paper requiring a hearing in civil cases is $60 under Government Code Section 70617(a).
If You’ve Missed 10 Days: The Renewal Application
Section 1008(b) offers a separate path when your original motion was denied in whole or in part. A renewal application has no time limit, and it can be brought before either the same judge or a different one. That flexibility comes with the same substantive bar: new or different facts, circumstances, or law, supported by an affidavit explaining what was previously requested, what the court decided, and what has changed.
If the renewal doesn’t meet those requirements, any order granted on it can be revoked on an opposing party’s ex parte motion. The renewal application fits situations where circumstances shift months after an unfavorable ruling; the 10-day reconsideration motion under 1008(a) is the immediate remedy when new information surfaces right away.
How Filing Affects Your Appeal Clock
A valid motion for reconsideration under Section 1008(a) extends the time to appeal from the underlying order. Under California Rule of Court 8.108(e), the appeal deadline runs for all parties until the earliest of: 30 days after the clerk or a party serves the order denying the reconsideration motion or notice of its entry, 90 days after the reconsideration motion was filed, or 180 days after entry of the original appealable order.
“Valid” here means procedurally compliant, not ultimately successful. The motion doesn’t have to win to trigger the extension, but it has to meet Section 1008(a)’s procedural requirements. That makes a properly constructed motion useful even when you’re also considering an appeal, because it buys additional time without giving up the appeal option. Track all three deadline triggers independently and file a notice of appeal before the earliest one expires if reconsideration is denied or still pending.
What the Court Can Do
When reconsideration is granted, the court can modify, amend, or revoke the original order. A revised ruling on a discovery dispute may simply redirect the litigation; a changed ruling on summary judgment can reopen issues both sides thought were settled.
Denial is more common. Courts are reluctant to reverse themselves, and the new-evidence bar is intentionally high. A denial leaves the original order intact and doesn’t create any right to try again on the same grounds. You can still appeal the underlying order.
Sanctions for Frivolous Motions
Section 1008(d) states that violating the statute’s requirements can be punished as contempt and with sanctions under Section 128.7. Filing a motion that doesn’t actually present new facts or law, or that repackages old arguments, carries real financial risk.
Code of Civil Procedure Section 128.5 also allows a court to order a party or attorney to pay the opposing side’s reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, when the motion was filed in bad faith or is “totally and completely without merit.” Section 128.7 adds another layer: by signing and filing a court document, an attorney certifies it isn’t presented for an improper purpose and that its legal contentions are warranted. A reconsideration motion the attorney knows lacks any new evidence violates that certification.
Reconsideration Is Not Clarification
If the order is ambiguous and you want the court to explain what it requires without changing the outcome, that’s a motion for clarification, which doesn’t require new evidence and isn’t governed by Section 1008’s 10-day deadline. If you want the order changed, it’s reconsideration, and every one of Section 1008’s requirements applies. Filing something labeled “clarification” that actually asks for a different result invites the court to treat it as an improper reconsideration motion that didn’t meet the statute.