Summary Judgment Deadlines in California: The 2025 Rules

Not legal advice. Core CCP rules checked against Westlaw (via CoCounsel legal research) on July 24, 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.

The Legislature rewrote summary judgment timing effective January 1, 2025, and a lot of calendars have not caught up. The notice period is now 81 days, not 75. Oppositions are due 20 days before the hearing, replies 11 days before. The motion still must be heard no later than 30 days before trial unless the court orders otherwise (CCP section 437c).

Work backward from a trial date and the math gets tight fast. A motion heard at the last possible moment, 30 days before trial, must be filed and served at least 81 days before that hearing. That is 111 days before trial with personal service, and more with any other method. If you wait for the discovery you “need” before moving, you can discover the window has already closed.

The service extension trap

Here is the part that burns people: the general extension statutes do not apply. CCP section 437c(a)(6) expressly excludes sections 1005 and 1013. Instead, 437c has its own built-in extensions: mail within California adds 5 days, out-of-state mail 10, international 20, and overnight or fax adds 2 court days.

Electronic service is its own story. Section 437c says nothing about it, but the Court of Appeal held in Cole v. Superior Court (2022) 87 Cal.App.5th 84 that the 2-court-day e-service extension in section 1010.6 applies, because 437c excludes only 1005 and 1013. An e-served MSJ therefore needs 83 days of notice, 81 plus 2 court days.

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FAQ

Can I get around the 30-days-before-trial hearing cutoff?

Only with a court order for good cause. Do not count on it. Reserve your hearing date early; in busy departments the reservation, not the statute, is the real constraint.

Do the opposition and reply deadlines get service extensions?

No. They are counted backward from the hearing date, and backward-counted deadlines landing on a weekend or holiday move to the preceding court day, not the next one.

Does a trial continuance give me a new MSJ window?

Sometimes, but do not assume. The hearing cutoff runs from the trial date, while discovery cutoffs stay keyed to the initial trial date. These move independently. Check both before promising a client anything.

This page is general legal information, not legal advice. Verify every deadline against the current code and your court’s rules.