A motion to stay is a written request asking the court to pause all or part of a case, delay enforcement of a judgment, or freeze a specific deadline while a separate issue gets resolved. In federal court, most stay requests are decided under a four-factor balancing test from the U.S. Supreme Court, and the party asking for the pause carries the burden of showing why it is justified.1Legal Information Institute. Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418 (2009) Get the motion wrong and you rarely get a second shot at the same court level, so the drafting and the timing both matter.
When a Court Will Pause the Case
Courts have what the Supreme Court has called an inherent power to manage their dockets, including the authority to pause one case while another proceeding plays out.2Justia Law. Landis v. North American Co., 299 U.S. 248 (1936) That discretion is broad, but judges do not grant stays casually. You need a concrete reason why proceeding right now would be unfair, wasteful, or harmful.
Common grounds include:
- A pending appeal, where you lost at trial and want to prevent the winner from enforcing the judgment while the appellate court reviews the decision. Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 8 governs this process.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 8 – Stay or Injunction Pending Appeal
- Parallel litigation in another court that could control or heavily influence the outcome of yours.
- An administrative, licensing, or regulatory decision that needs to happen before the case can meaningfully move forward.
- Active settlement or mediation that benefits from lifting the pressure of litigation deadlines.
- Key discovery or testimony that is currently inaccessible for reasons outside your control.
Whatever ground you rely on, tie it to the facts. A general statement that a pause would be “convenient” or “efficient” will not clear the bar. Courts expect concrete harm or waste that the stay would prevent.
The Four Factors Courts Weigh
When the court evaluates your motion, it weighs four factors confirmed by the Supreme Court in Nken v. Holder:1Legal Information Institute. Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418 (2009)
- Likelihood of success on the merits of the underlying issue, whether that is an appeal, a related proceeding, or the main case itself.
- Irreparable harm to you if the stay is denied, meaning harm that cannot be undone or compensated with money later.
- Harm to the opposing party if the stay is granted. A stay that costs your opponent nothing is far easier to get than one that delays their recovery for months.
- The public interest, which can tip the balance in cases involving government action, civil rights, or environmental disputes.
These are not a checklist where you need to win all four. Courts treat them as a sliding scale: a strong showing on irreparable harm can offset a weaker showing on likelihood of success. But do not skip any factor in your motion. Judges look for engagement with the full framework, and the ones that succeed usually lead with irreparable harm, because that is the factor judges scrutinize most closely.
What Goes in the Motion
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7(b) requires every motion to be in writing, state the grounds with specificity, and identify the relief you are requesting.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 7 – Pleadings Allowed; Form of Motions and Other Papers A motion to stay follows that structure.
Caption and Title
Start with a caption listing the court’s full name, the case title, and the case number. Rule 10 sets the formatting.5Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 10 – Form of Pleadings Make the title specific enough that the judge knows what you want before reading the body. “Motion to Stay All Discovery Pending Resolution of Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss” is far more useful than a generic “Motion to Stay.”
Statement of Facts
Lay out the current status of the case and the specific event triggering your request. Keep it short. If there is a pending appeal, identify when it was filed and what issues it raises. If parallel litigation is the basis, identify the other court, the case number, and the overlap between the two cases.
Legal Argument
Walk through the four factors and connect each one to your facts. Cite the governing rule of procedure, reference the Nken framework, and explain why the balance favors a pause.
Supporting Documentation
Attach anything that corroborates your factual claims: declarations from you or your attorney, copies of filings from related cases in other courts, and evidence of the specific harm you would suffer without a stay. A motion that asks the court to take your word for it, without supporting evidence, usually fails.
Filing and Serving the Motion
You file with the clerk’s office of the court where your case is pending. Most federal courts and many state courts require electronic filing through systems like CM/ECF, which impose specific rules for document size, font, and file type. Check local rules before submitting, because a motion rejected for formatting errors delays everything.
After filing, serve a complete copy of the motion and all exhibits on the opposing party or their attorney, then attach a Certificate of Service confirming the method, date, and address of service. Without it, the court may treat the motion as improperly filed.
One procedural trap catches people regularly. If you want a stay pending appeal, Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 8 requires you to ask the trial court first before going to the appellate court.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 8 – Stay or Injunction Pending Appeal You can only go straight to the appeals court if moving first in the trial court would be impracticable or if the trial court has already denied your request.
Staying Enforcement of a Money Judgment
If you just lost at trial, a different set of rules applies to enforcement. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62(a), enforcement of a judgment is automatically stayed for 30 days after the court enters it.6Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 62 – Stay of Proceedings to Enforce a Judgment No motion is needed during that window. The point is to give the losing party time to decide whether to appeal and arrange a longer stay.
To extend the stay beyond those 30 days while you appeal, you typically need to post a supersedeas bond or other security that the court approves. Rule 62(b) provides that a party may obtain a stay at any time after judgment by providing such a bond, and the stay takes effect once the court approves it.6Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 62 – Stay of Proceedings to Enforce a Judgment The bond protects the winning party by guaranteeing the judgment amount, plus interest and costs, will be available if the appeal fails.
Bond amounts vary. Some courts require the full judgment amount plus a percentage to cover interest and fees. The bond must be posted alongside a notice of appeal for the stay to take effect; filing only one of the two is not enough. If you cannot afford the full bond, you can ask the court for a reduced amount or alternative security, but that requires a separate motion and a showing of financial hardship. Many states also cap the maximum bond amount for appeal stays, with caps varying widely by jurisdiction.
Emergency and Administrative Stays
Sometimes you cannot wait for the normal briefing schedule. If enforcement of a judgment or a government action will cause irreparable harm within days or hours, you can file an emergency motion for a stay. Courts take these seriously but hold you to a high standard: you must explain in the motion why normal timing is inadequate and what specific, imminent harm you face.
An administrative stay is a short-term freeze a court can impose while it considers a full stay motion. The court pauses things temporarily so it has time to review briefing on the actual stay request without the situation becoming moot in the meantime. These are most common in appeals involving government action or injunctions where the status quo could shift irreversibly before full briefing is complete.
For emergency motions, most courts require a good-faith effort to notify the opposing party before filing, even if you cannot provide formal service. Filing without any notice to the other side is disfavored and may prompt the court to deny the request outright or set an expedited hearing rather than ruling immediately.
Two Situations Where No Motion Is Needed
Not every pause requires a motion. Two statutory stays operate on their own tracks and are worth knowing about so you do not file a motion you did not need.
Bankruptcy Automatic Stay
Filing a bankruptcy petition triggers an automatic stay under federal law that halts virtually all collection efforts, lawsuits, foreclosures, and enforcement actions against the debtor, without any motion needed.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay It kicks in the moment the petition is filed and applies to all creditors, not just those named in the bankruptcy case.
Important exceptions exist. The automatic stay does not stop criminal proceedings against the debtor, most domestic relations matters like child custody and support actions, government enforcement of regulatory and police powers, or tax audits. A creditor who wants to proceed anyway must file a motion for relief under Section 362(d), and courts grant relief for cause, where the debtor has no equity in property that is not necessary for reorganization, or where the bankruptcy was filed in bad faith.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
Active-duty military members have a statutory right to stay civil proceedings when service prevents them from appearing in court. Unlike most stay requests, this one is mandatory: the court must grant at least a 90-day stay if the servicemember meets the statutory requirements.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3932 – Stay of Proceedings When Servicemember Has Notice
To qualify, the servicemember must be on active duty, or within 90 days of leaving active duty, and must submit two things: a letter explaining how military duties prevent a court appearance and estimating when they will be available, and a letter from the commanding officer confirming military duty prevents attendance and that leave is not authorized. If the initial 90-day stay expires and duty still prevents appearance, the servicemember can request additional time with the same documentation. If the court denies the additional stay, it must appoint counsel to represent the servicemember.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3932 – Stay of Proceedings When Servicemember Has Notice Filing under this statute does not waive any defenses, including objections to personal jurisdiction.
After You File
The opposing party gets a set period to file a response explaining why the stay should be denied. The judge may then decide on the papers alone or schedule a hearing. Some courts rule within days, others take weeks.
If the court grants the stay, the order will define exactly what is paused. A stay of discovery does not freeze the entire case. A stay of judgment enforcement does not stop discovery in a related counterclaim. Read the order carefully, because anything not specifically covered keeps moving forward. Courts also frequently attach conditions, most commonly posting a bond or security to protect the opposing party from losses caused by the delay.9United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Rule 8 – Stay or Injunction Pending Appeal Other conditions might include periodic status reports or a deadline by which you must take a specific action.
If the Motion Is Denied
A denial is not necessarily the end. If the trial court denies your motion to stay pending appeal, Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 8 allows you to renew the request in the appellate court, provided you explain the reasons the trial court gave for denying it.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 8 – Stay or Injunction Pending Appeal The appellate court reviews the same four factors independently and is not bound by the lower court’s reasoning.
For stays unrelated to a pending appeal, options are more limited. You can ask the court to reconsider if circumstances have changed materially, but rearguing the same points with different phrasing will not get you anywhere. In rare cases, a party may seek emergency relief from a higher court through a writ of mandamus, but that remedy is reserved for clear abuses of discretion and is rarely granted. The practical takeaway: get the motion right the first time.