US federal district courts
When must a motion for attorney’s fees be filed after judgment in federal court?
Unless a statute or court order provides otherwise, a motion for attorney’s fees and related nontaxable expenses must be filed no later than 14 days after entry of judgment. A motion to review the clerk’s taxation of costs must be served within 7 days after the clerk acts.
Calculate my deadline- Period
- 14 calendar days
- Trigger
- Entry of judgment, or the clerk’s taxation of costs
- Rule
- FRCP 54(d)(2)(B)(i)
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure amended through 2025
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Calculate your deadline
Enter the date of entry of judgment, or the clerk’s taxation of costs. See the date, cited rule and counting steps.
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Which date starts the 14-day period?
The period runs from the entry of judgment, or the clerk’s taxation of costs. The default calculation uses entry of judgment; other branches use their own trigger.
Count forward from the selected trigger. Confirm the event on the docket or in the service record before entering a date.
Read Rule 54Unless a statute or a court order provides otherwise, the motion must: (i) be filed no later than 14 days after the entry of judgment
FRCP 54(d)(2)(B)(i)
This is a docket-entry calculation. Do not substitute the day an email arrived, the day you read the order or the day of the hearing.
Which date do I enter?How are the 14 calendar days counted?
- Exclude the day of the trigger event.
- Count every following day, including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays.
- If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, continue to the next day that is not one of those.
Exclude the trigger day and count calendar days under FRCP 6(a).
FRCP 6(a) carries a final weekend day or legal holiday to the next open day.
Rule 6(a) also treats a day on which the clerk’s office is inaccessible as excluded from the last day, and sets the filing cutoff at midnight in the court’s time zone for electronic filing. The national calculation does not confirm those local facts.
Read FRCP 6(a)The calculation gives the ordinary national-rule date. Check relevant holidays, the court’s accessibility and its filing cutoff separately.
Review the filing checklistWhat does a worked calculation look like?
Fictitious example
Assume the entry of judgment, or the clerk’s taxation of costs on Tuesday, September 1, 2026 (judgment entered on the docket; no statute or order changed the fee-motion period), with no order, motion, extension or local closure affecting the result. The entry date is excluded and 14 calendar days are counted. September 15, 2026 is a Tuesday and not a federal legal holiday, so the deadline is not rolled forward.
| Step | What is counted | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Do not count this day | September 1, 2026 |
| Day 1 | Start counting calendar days | September 2, 2026 |
| Day 14 | Ordinary deadline in this example | September 15, 2026 |
Can an order, motion or extension change the deadline?
- Extensions
- Displaceable by statute or court order. Extendable under FRCP 6(b)(1) - Rule 54 is not among the exceptions in Rule 6(b)(2) - but the excusable neglect standard applies once the period has expired.
- Orders and local rules
- A scheduling order, stipulation approved by the court, standing order or local rule can set a different period and controls over the national default.
- A fee-shifting statute or local rule may set a different period; many districts extend it by local rule.
- Fees recoverable as an element of damages proved at trial are outside Rule 54(d)(2).
What should I check before filing?
These checks help you review the result. They do not activate a calendar date or certify that the deadline applies.
Common questions
Find answers about when this 14-day period starts, how it is counted, what can change it and how to keep your calculation.
Starting the clock
Does the clock start on the entry of judgment, or the clerk’s taxation of costs, or when I first learned of it?
The period runs from the entry of judgment, or the clerk’s taxation of costs as the rule defines it, not from the day you read about it, received a courtesy copy or attended a hearing. Use the date shown on the docket or in the service record.
Read Rule 54Do I add three days because the document arrived by mail?
Not to this period. FRCP 6(d) concerns periods measured after service. This period runs from the entry of judgment, or the clerk’s taxation of costs, so no mailing days are added.
FRCP 6(d)Counting days and filing
Is it 14 calendar days or business days?
Calendar days. Count intermediate weekends and holidays. If the final day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, FRCP 6(a) carries it forward to the next day that is not one of those.
FRCP 6(a)Which time zone and filing cutoff apply?
Under FRCP 6(a)(4), electronic filing ends at midnight in the court’s time zone unless a statute, local rule or court order sets a different time. Paper filing ends when the clerk’s office is scheduled to close. This calculator does not verify either fact.
FRCP 6(a)What if the court is inaccessible on the last day?
FRCP 6(a)(3) extends the period to the first accessible day that is not a weekend or legal holiday when the clerk’s office is inaccessible on the last day. Check the court’s closure notices and orders. A national holiday calculation does not establish an outage or local closure.
FRCP 6(a)Extensions and local rules
Can the court extend this deadline?
Displaceable by statute or court order. Extendable under FRCP 6(b)(1) - Rule 54 is not among the exceptions in Rule 6(b)(2) - but the excusable neglect standard applies once the period has expired. A request does not itself extend the period, and no discretionary extension is calculated here.
Read Rule 54Do local rules, standing orders or a scheduling order change the date?
They can. Many courts set their own periods by local rule, standing order or case-specific order, and those control over the national default. This calculator gives the national-rule date only; compare it with any order in the case before relying on it.
Choosing the right calculator
Does this calculator decide whether the rule applies to my case?
No. It calculates a period from the date you provide under the cited rule. It does not decide whether the rule governs your filing, whether an exception applies, or whether the filing has merit. Those questions need separate review.
Can I calculate the deadline without an account?
Yes. Enter the trigger date to see the free national-rule calculation, citation, counting steps and warnings. You can add court context after the result. Missing court review keeps the result provisional.
Results, records and your case
What is included in an Evidence Record?
The retained inputs, result, cited rule, calculation working, warnings and review state. The PDF includes a payload digest and retained-data appendix, and the record can be verified against its fingerprint later. It records the calculation, not a guarantee of legal correctness.
Does saving to a case activate the calendar?
Not automatically. Provisional records remain subject to review. A separately labeled manual date does not alter the original calculation.
Official sources and review
The period and the counting method come from different provisions. The official source is the court’s published rules; the reading links open the rule text at the Legal Information Institute.
| Provision | Purpose |
|---|---|
| FRCP 54(d)(2)(B)(i) | Trigger and period |
| FRCP 6(a) | Counting, legal holidays and the last day |
Rule record reviewed . Guide sources checked . Next source check .
Published by Deadline Engine. This tool calculates the ordinary period under the cited rule. It does not decide whether the rule applies, obtain an extension or file anything for you.