What is the deadline for reply brief on the merits?

The period runs from the filing of the brief for the respondent or appellee.

Count forward from the trigger event. Confirm the event on the docket or in the service record before entering a date.

"The petitioner or appellant shall file 40 copies of the reply brief, if any, within 30 days after the brief for the respondent or appellee is filed, but any reply brief must actually be received by the Clerk not later than 2 p.m. 10 days before the date of oral argument."

Sup. Ct. R. 25.3

1. Exclude the day of the trigger event.
2. Count every following day, including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays.
3. If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday, federal legal holiday, or a day the Court building is closed by order or inaccessible, continue to the next day that is not one of those.

Exclude the trigger day and count calendar days under Sup. Ct. R. 30.1.

If the final day is a Saturday, Sunday, federal legal holiday or a day the Court is closed, Rule 30.1 carries it to the next open day.

Rule 30.1 lists the days that carry a deadline forward, including days on which the Court building is closed or inaccessible. Rule 30 also governs extensions, which the Court grants sparingly. The national calculation does not confirm building closures.

No date is calculated on this page because the encoded provision could not be reduced to one fixed period. Read the rule text, the starting event and the noted branches, then confirm the period in the current rules before relying on any date.

The operative deadline is the EARLIER of this forward 30-day date and the backward 2 p.m. ten-days-before-argument backstop in us_scotus_reply_merits_brief_2pm_10_before.

Extensions

Extendable under Rule 30, subject to the 2 p.m. backstop, and an application to extend a merits brief is "not favored" (Rule 25.5). An application to extend time for a reply brief on the merits must be made to an individual Justice under Rule 30.3 and, once denied, may not be renewed.

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.

• Extendable under Rule 30, subject to the 2 p.m. backstop, and an application to extend a merits brief is "not favored" (Rule 25.5). An application to extend time for a reply brief on the merits must be made to an individual Justice under Rule 30.3 and, once denied, may not be renewed.
• A stipulation, scheduling order, standing order or local rule can set a different period and controls over the national default.
• The operative deadline is the EARLIER of this forward 30-day date and the backward 2 p.m. ten-days-before-argument backstop in us_scotus_reply_merits_brief_2pm_10_before.

These checks help you review the result. They do not activate a calendar date or certify that the deadline applies.

• Correct trigger date from the lower court’s docket or the Supreme Court docket
• Any extension granted by a Justice under Rule 30
• Federal legal holidays and any Court closure notice
• The Clerk’s filing requirements and the electronic filing system’s cutoff
• Current rules and any order entered in the case

Find answers about when this 30-day period starts, how it is counted, what can change it and how to keep your calculation.

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.

Rule record reviewed September 17, 2026. Guide sources checked September 1, 2026. Next source check November 15, 2026.

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.