US federal district courts
When is a Rule 59 motion for a new trial or to alter or amend the judgment due?
A motion for a new trial, to alter or amend the judgment, for renewed judgment as a matter of law or for amended findings normally must be filed no later than 28 days after entry of the judgment. The court cannot extend these periods.
Calculate my deadline- Period
- 28 calendar days
- Trigger
- Entry of the judgment
- Rule
- FRCP 59(e)
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure amended through 2025
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Calculate your deadline
Enter the date of entry of the judgment. See the date, cited rule and counting steps.
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Which date starts the 28-day period?
The period runs from the entry of the judgment.
Count forward from entry. Confirm the event on the docket or in the service record before entering a date.
Read Rule 59A motion to alter or amend a judgment must be filed no later than 28 days after the entry of the judgment.
FRCP 59(e)
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 28 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 day of entry and count 28 calendar days under FRCP 6(a).
If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, FRCP 6(a)(1)(C) carries the deadline to the next day the clerk’s office is open.
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 the judgment on Tuesday, September 1, 2026 (judgment entered on the docket; motion to alter or amend under Rule 59(e)), with no order, motion, extension or local closure affecting the result. The entry date is excluded. Twenty-eight calendar days are counted, and the federal final-day rule is applied. September 29, 2026 is a Tuesday, so no rollover is needed.
| Step | What is counted | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Do not count this day | September 1, 2026 |
| Day 1 | Start counting calendar days | September 2, 2026 |
| Day 28 | Ordinary deadline in this example | September 29, 2026 |
Can an order, motion or extension change the deadline?
- Extensions
- EXPRESSLY NON-EXTENDABLE under FRCP 6(b)(2). No good cause or excusable neglect relief is available.
- 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.
- FRCP 6(b)(2) forbids extending the time to act under Rules 50(b), 52(b), 59(b), 59(d) and 59(e).
- A Rule 50(b) motion on an issue the jury did not decide runs from discharge of the jury.
- A timely motion under these rules also postpones the time to appeal under FRAP 4(a)(4).
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 28-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 the judgment, or when I first learned of it?
The period runs from the entry of the judgment 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 59Do 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 the judgment, so no mailing days are added.
FRCP 6(d)Counting days and filing
Is it 28 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?
EXPRESSLY NON-EXTENDABLE under FRCP 6(b)(2). No good cause or excusable neglect relief is available. A request does not itself extend the period, and no discretionary extension is calculated here.
Read Rule 59Do 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 59(e) | 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.