California summary judgment now runs on a new clock. Since January 1, 2025, Assembly Bill 2049 has moved every deadline in Code of Civil Procedure section 437c: the moving party must serve and file the motion at least 81 days before the hearing (up from 75), the opposition comes due at least 20 days before (up from 14), and the reply at least 11 days before (up from 5).
The Legislature’s purpose was straightforward — give trial judges more time with the reply before ruling — but the longer lead times punish sloppy calendaring. You now have to start building a motion nearly three months before you want it heard, and any article still quoting the old 75/14/5 schedule is steering you wrong. Miss any of these three dates and the court can deny or disregard the late paper outright.
The 81/20/11-Day Timeline at a Glance
CCP 437c(a)(2) requires notice of the motion and all supporting papers to be served on every other party at least 81 days before the time appointed for hearing. Opposition papers must be served and filed not less than 20 days before the noticed or continued hearing date (437c(b)(2)), unless the court for good cause orders otherwise. The moving party’s reply must be served and filed not less than 11 days before the hearing (437c(b)(4)).
Three fine points matter immediately. First, all three are minimums — earlier is always safe. Second, the “days” in 437c are calendar days, not court days. That surprises lawyers trained on CCP 1005’s court-day math, but the summary judgment statute has always run on calendar days, and AB 2049 kept it that way. Third, if you are comparing states: Texas rewrote its own summary judgment deadlines in 2026 under the new TRCP 166a, with a completely different structure — don’t mix the two schedules up.
Worked Example: Counting Back From May 15, 2026
Suppose your summary judgment hearing is set for Friday, May 15, 2026. Here is the calendar:
- Serve and file the motion and supporting papers: no later than Monday, February 23, 2026 — exactly 81 calendar days before the hearing.
- Serve and file the opposition: no later than Saturday, April 25, 2026 — 20 days out. Because that lands on a weekend, treat Friday, April 24 as your real deadline.
- Serve and file the reply: no later than Monday, May 4, 2026 — 11 days out.
Service method changes the math. If the motion is served by regular mail to an address inside California, the 81-day notice period grows by five days — the motion would be due Wednesday, February 18, 2026 instead. Mail outside California but within the U.S. adds 10 days; mail outside the U.S. adds 20. Overnight delivery adds two court days, and electronic service adds two court days under CCP 1010.6. Calendar the longest lead time your service method requires.
What AB 2049 Changed (and What It Didn’t)
The six-day extension at each step is the headline, but AB 2049 made three other changes you need on your radar:
- One motion per adverse party. CCP 437c(a)(4) now prohibits filing more than one summary judgment motion against the same adverse party without leave of court. The old statute had no such limit. Your first motion has to be your best one.
- No new evidence in the reply. The statute now says explicitly what case law already required — the moving party cannot introduce new facts or evidence with the reply brief.
- Broader summary adjudication. Summary adjudication can now reach legal issues that don’t fully dispose of a cause of action — but only if all affected parties stipulate that it would serve judicial economy and the trial court agrees to authorize it.
What stayed the same: a motion may be brought any time after 60 days have elapsed since the general appearance of each party the motion is directed against (437c(a)(1)), and the hearing must still occur no later than 30 days before trial (437c(a)(3)).
The 30-Day-Before-Trial Backstop
In practice, litigators calendar these motions backward from trial. Take a trial date of June 15, 2026: the last day the court can hear your motion is May 16, 2026, which means the motion must be served by February 24, 2026 (81 days earlier). Because oppositions live or die on disputed facts, your evidence gathering has to finish well before that — note that California’s discovery cutoff dates usually close the discovery window weeks before your opposition papers are due. A motion noticed without the evidence to support it is a motion you will lose.
What Each Set of Papers Must Contain
Timing is only half the statute. CCP 437c(b)(1) requires the moving papers to include a separate statement setting forth plainly and concisely every material fact the moving party contends is undisputed, each followed by a reference to the supporting evidence. The court may deny the motion solely for a missing or defective separate statement.
The opposition needs its own responsive separate statement — agreeing or disputing each asserted fact and citing evidence for every disputed one (437c(b)(3)). A defective opposition separate statement is, in the court’s discretion, grounds for granting the motion. And evidentiary objections not made at the hearing are deemed waived (437c(d)), so the hearing itself is your last line of defense on objections.
Missing the Deadline Costs You the Motion
A motion served with short notice is vulnerable on timeliness alone — the opposition’s first move should be checking your arithmetic, and courts routinely deny or continue short-noticed motions. A late opposition can simply be disregarded. And note that filing the motion does not extend the time to file a responsive pleading (437c(a)(2)): your California answer is still due 30 days after service even while summary judgment briefing is underway. Missed one of these dates already? Here is how to contain the damage when a court deadline slips through.
California Summary Judgment Deadline FAQs
Is the 81-day notice period counted in court days or calendar days?
Calendar days. Although most California noticed motions run on CCP 1005’s court-day system, section 437c has always used plain “days,” and AB 2049 did not change that. Count weekends and holidays straight through when backing up from the hearing date.
Does filing a summary judgment motion extend my time to answer the complaint?
No. CCP 437c(a)(2) states expressly that filing the motion does not extend the time to file a responsive pleading. A defendant’s answer remains due on the normal schedule — in California, 30 days after service of the summons and complaint.
Can I file a second summary judgment motion if the first one is denied?
Only with leave of court. Since January 1, 2025, CCP 437c(a)(4) prohibits more than one summary judgment motion against the same adverse party without the court’s permission. Build your first motion as if it is your only one, because it may be.
What if the opposition deadline falls on a weekend or holiday?
The statute requires service and filing “not less than 20 days” before the hearing, measured in calendar days. If the 20th day lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or court holiday, the safe move is serving and filing on the last preceding court day — the statute gives no automatic rollover, so don’t gamble on one.
Can the court continue the hearing to fix a deadline problem?
Yes. The opposition and reply deadlines apply “unless the court for good cause orders otherwise” (437c(b)(2), (b)(4)), and courts routinely continue hearings to cure defective notice or to allow more discovery under 437c(h). But a continuance is discretionary — calendar the statutory dates as if it isn’t coming.
How does the 30-days-before-trial rule affect my motion strategy?
Because the hearing must occur no later than 30 days before trial, a late trial setting compresses everything backward: the motion must be served 81 days before that already-early hearing. Work the dates backward with our free legal deadline calculator before you commit to a hearing date you can’t support.
This article is general information about California court deadlines, not legal advice. Statutes and local rules change — confirm every date against the current text of CCP section 437c and your court’s local rules before calendaring.