When Is a Motion for Reconsideration 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.
10 calendar days from service of written notice of entry of the order, extended by the method of service. CCP § 1008(a)
What catches people out: Ten days, the shortest trigger deadline on this site, and it runs from service of written notice of entry rather than from the ruling.
Section 1008(a) gives 10 days after service of written notice of entry of the order. Not 10 days from the hearing, not 10 days from when you learned of the ruling, and not 10 days from entry. From service of written notice of entry. If nobody serves that notice, the 10 days has not started.
Ten days is short enough that the practical answer is usually to prepare the motion before you know whether you need it. By the time a transcript arrives the period is often gone.
The substantive bar is higher than the deadline. The motion must be based on new or different facts, circumstances, or law, and it must be supported by a declaration stating what application was made before, to which judge, what order was made, and what new or different facts are claimed. A motion that re-argues the original showing on the original record fails regardless of timing.
Whether the section 1013 service extensions apply to the 10-day period is genuinely unsettled. Section 1013 lists only three carve-outs, none of them section 1008, which on a literal reading means the extension applies. No published case so holds. This site applies the extension and says so, which is the safer direction for a moving party but is not a substitute for checking before you rely on the extra days.
What the statute does not say on its face
- Requires new or different facts, circumstances, or law.
- California authority is split on whether the § 1008(a) 10-day period is itself jurisdictional. Ziller Electronics Lab Corp. v. Superior Court (1988) 206 Cal.App.3d 1222 holds it is not, reasoning that a trial court retains inherent power to reconsider its own interim rulings. Jones v. Sieve (1988) 203 Cal.App.3d 359 and the text of § 1008(e) point the other way. Treat the 10 days as a hard deadline for planning purposes, but do not represent the question as settled.
- UNRESOLVED: whether Code Civ. Proc., § 1013 extends the § 1008(a) 10-day period. Section 1013(a) lists only three carve-outs: notice of intention to move for new trial, notice of intention to move to vacate under § 663a, and notice of appeal. Section 1008 is not among them, which on a literal reading means the extension applies. No case so holds. This calculator applies it.
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 motion for reconsideration in California?
10 calendar days from service of written notice of entry of the order, under CCP § 1008(a). 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 motion for reconsideration 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 motion for reconsideration deadline be extended?
No extension provision appears in § 1008, and § 1008(e) states the section is jurisdictional. Do not assume the period can be extended.
When are the opposition and reply due on a motion for reconsideration?
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 motion for reconsideration deadline?
Ten days, the shortest trigger deadline on this site, and it runs from service of written notice of entry rather than from the ruling.
Other motion deadlines
DemurrerAnti-SLAPP special motion to strikeMotion to strikeMotion to quash service of summonsMotion to compel further responsesMotion 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