When Is an Anti-SLAPP Motion Due in California?
Not legal advice. Rules checked against the code on August 20, 2026. Verify every date yourself. Read the full disclaimer
Core CCP rules were checked against Westlaw (via CoCounsel legal research) on August 20, 2026. County local rules are paraphrased summaries; individual department standing orders are NOT included. Verify every date against the operative code sections and your court’s rules before relying on it. Using this site creates no attorney-client relationship.
60 calendar days from service of the complaint, extended by the method of service. CCP § 425.16(f)
What catches people out: Sixty days, not the thirty you have to answer, and the discovery stay attaches on filing rather than on any ruling.
A special motion to strike under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 must be filed within 60 days of service of the complaint. That is double the ordinary response period, and it is the most common error in this area: counsel calendars the 30-day answer date, files an answer, and only then considers whether the claim was subject to an anti-SLAPP motion.
The 60 days is not the only clock that matters. Filing the motion operates as a stay of discovery, which is much of the point of the statute, and the stay attaches on filing rather than on any ruling. A plaintiff who needs discovery to oppose has to move for leave on a showing of good cause, and that motion is itself on the ordinary notice track.
The court may allow a later motion in its discretion, but that discretion is not a safety net a defendant should plan around. Treat the 60 days as the deadline and the discretion as the remedy for a mistake.
An order granting or denying the motion is immediately appealable, which is unusual for a pleading motion and is worth knowing before the hearing rather than after it.
What the statute does not say on its face
- The 60 days runs from service of the complaint, not from appearance.
- Code Civ. Proc., § 1013(a) EXTENDS the § 425.16(f) 60-day period by five calendar days where the complaint is served by mail within California. (Lam v. Ngo (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 832; Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Oracle Corp. (2015) 239 Cal.App.4th 1174.) The § 1005(b) carve-out does not reach this deadline, because § 1005(b) governs minimum notice for a hearing, not the time to bring a motion. No contrary published authority was located.
- Discovery is stayed on filing (§ 425.16(g)).
- An order granting or denying a special motion to strike is appealable under Code Civ. Proc., §§ 425.16(i) and 904.1.
- An amended complaint restarts the 60-day period only as to new causes of action that could not have been targeted in a prior anti-SLAPP motion, or new allegations that make previously pleaded claims newly subject to the statute. (Newport Harbor Ventures, LLC v. Morris Cerullo World Evangelism (2018) 4 Cal.5th 637, disapproving Yu v. Signet Bank.) This calculator does not model amended complaints.
Then the hearing clock starts
Filing on time is half of it. The hearing itself runs on CCP § 1005(b): 16 court days of notice before the hearing, opposition 9 court days before, reply 5 court days before. Electronic service pushes the moving papers to 18 court days. All of it counts backward across weekends and California court holidays, which is where most miscounts happen. The civil motion deadline calculator does both halves at once.
Common questions
How long do you have to file a anti-slapp special motion to strike in California?
60 calendar days from service of the complaint, under CCP § 425.16(f). Calendar days count weekends and holidays; if the last day lands on one, the deadline rolls to the next court day.
Does the method of service extend the anti-slapp special motion to strike deadline?
Yes. Service extensions apply to this period, so the date moves depending on whether the triggering papers went out personally, by mail, by overnight delivery or electronically. The calculator applies the right one once you pick the method.
Can the anti-slapp special motion to strike deadline be extended?
The court may permit a later filing in its discretion (§ 425.16(f)). That is a request, not an entitlement, and it is not something to plan around.
When are the opposition and reply due on a anti-slapp special motion to strike?
Opposition is due 9 court days before the hearing and the reply 5 court days before, under Code of Civil Procedure section 1005(b). Both are court days and both count backward from the hearing across weekends and California court holidays.
What catches people out on the anti-slapp special motion to strike deadline?
Sixty days, not the thirty you have to answer, and the discovery stay attaches on filing rather than on any ruling.
Other motion deadlines
DemurrerMotion to strikeMotion to quash service of summonsMotion to compel further responsesMotion for reconsiderationMotion for new trialMotion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict
This deadline was verified against the code on August 17, 2026. Every figure on this page is read from the same rules engine the calculators use, so it cannot disagree with them. See methodology.
Related: Civil motion deadlines · Response to a complaint · California court holidays · How these rules were verified · Keep this date with the case
Rules current as of August 20, 2026 · CCP amendments through January 1, 2025 · engine v1.0.0