US federal district courts
When is the last day to file a motion for summary judgment in federal court?
Unless a local rule or court order sets a different time, a party may file a motion for summary judgment at any time until 30 days after the close of all discovery.
Calculate my deadline- Period
- 30 calendar days
- Trigger
- The close of all discovery
- Rule
- FRCP 56(b)
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure amended through 2025
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Calculate your deadline
Enter the date of the close of all discovery. See the date, cited rule and counting steps.
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Which date starts the 30-day period?
The period runs from the close of all discovery.
Count forward from the discovery cutoff. Confirm the event on the docket or in the service record before entering a date.
Read Rule 56Unless a different time is set by local rule or the court orders otherwise, a party may file a motion for summary judgment at any time until 30 days after the close of all discovery.
FRCP 56(b)
This period runs from the specific event in the cited rule. Do not substitute a nearby date such as a hearing, a courtesy copy or the day you first learned of it.
Which date do I enter?How are the 30 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 discovery-cutoff day and count 30 calendar days under FRCP 6(a).
FRCP 6(a) carries a final Saturday, Sunday 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 close of all discovery on Tuesday, September 1, 2026 (discovery closed on this date and the scheduling order set no separate dispositive-motion deadline), with no order, motion, extension or local closure affecting the result. The discovery-cutoff date is excluded and 30 calendar days are counted. October 1, 2026 is a Thursday, so the federal final-day rule leaves the result unchanged.
| Step | What is counted | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Do not count this day | September 1, 2026 |
| Day 1 | Start counting calendar days | September 2, 2026 |
| Day 30 | Ordinary deadline in this example | October 1, 2026 |
Can an order, motion or extension change the deadline?
- Extensions
- Expressly displaceable by local rule or court order, and in the large majority of districts the operative date comes from the FRCP 16(b) scheduling order rather than this default.
- 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.
- Most districts set a dispositive-motion deadline in the Rule 16(b) scheduling order, which displaces the default.
- Local rules commonly set page limits, statement-of-facts requirements and separate briefing schedules.
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 30-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 close of all discovery, or when I first learned of it?
The period runs from the close of all discovery 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 56Do 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 close of all discovery, so no mailing days are added.
FRCP 6(d)Counting days and filing
Is it 30 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 displaceable by local rule or court order, and in the large majority of districts the operative date comes from the FRCP 16(b) scheduling order rather than this default. A request does not itself extend the period, and no discretionary extension is calculated here.
Read Rule 56Do 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 56(b) | 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.