When can a California summary judgment motion first be made?

General appearance by each party against whom the motion is directed

Retain evidence of every affected party’s general appearance. Complaint filing, summons service and a different defendant’s appearance are not interchangeable triggers.

Responsible actor. The party seeking to make the summary judgment motion. Use ordinary California civil summary judgment or summary adjudication under section 437c. Exclude unlawful detainer and other section 437c(s) possession proceedings, a changed court schedule, and additional actual closures. Establish the actual hearing or trial date independently.

1. General appearance by each party against whom the motion is directed
2. Retain evidence of every affected party’s general appearance. Complaint filing, summons service and a different defendant’s appearance are not interchangeable triggers.
3. Resolve each appearance, the elapsed interval and any actual earlier-time direction. An expiry-style sixty-day result does not establish the opening date.
4. Establish that the sixty-day interval has elapsed for every affected party, or preserve an actual good-cause order allowing an earlier motion after appearance. Separately reserve, serve and file the motion.

The hearing or trial day is excluded. Calendar-day periods include intermediate weekends and judicial holidays. CCP 12c(b) counts service-method additions farther backward from the base notice date. CCP 12a supplies the next eligible day for final opposition and reply expiry; that later-date treatment cannot be reused as a service target that reduces the full minimum notice. The personal-service and latest-hearing presets refuse closed base boundaries. Rule 1.11 governs ordinary weekend holiday observance. The retained 2026 and 2027 judicial calendar includes Lincoln Day, March 31, Juneteenth, Native American Day and Thanksgiving Friday, and the December 31, 2027 New Year observance. CCP 135 excludes the identified Admission Day, Columbus Day, Lunar New Year, Diwali and Genocide Remembrance Day agency holidays. Actual additional court closures require separate proof.

For moving papers, CCP 437c(a)(2) adds five, ten or twenty calendar days by the recipient mailing address, and two court days for fax, express mail or other overnight delivery. CCP 1010.6 supplies its separate electronic-service treatment, including two court days where applicable and the next-court-day treatment of noncourt-day service. Establish valid service and the actual event. Section 437c(b)(6) excludes CCP 1005 and 1013 time extensions, preserving CCP 1005(c) delivery of opposition and reply by the next business-day close. Do not import the ordinary sixteen, nine or five court-day motion periods into summary judgment.

Section 437c is the retained edition effective January 1, 2025. These presets cover anchors on or after January 1, 2026 and final dates within the independently retained 2026 and 2027 judicial calendar. They require an actual open-day hearing or trial anchor, unchanged statutory periods and no additional closure. Historical editions, future amendments, court orders, actual outages and additional local requirements need separate review. The software coverage limit does not establish that an actual act is late.

One defendant appears before another defendant. A motion directed against both requires both appearance intervals to be established. An earlier good-cause direction can change the opening condition. Adding sixty days to one appearance does not decide these facts.

This is an opening condition after an elapsed interval, for each adverse party, with a distinct court-directed branch. The historical sixty-day expiry preset cannot establish the first permissible motion date. No date is computed or sold.

Elapsed interval is not an expiry deadline

The statute says after sixty days have elapsed. The historical preset adds sixty days and applies an expiry rollover. It does not establish the first permissible act after that interval.

Each adverse party

The condition applies to each party against whom the motion is directed. One party’s appearance date does not establish the interval for another party.

Earlier court direction

The court may direct an earlier time after general appearance, with or without notice and upon good cause. Preserve the actual direction rather than assuming permission.

Further summary judgment motions

Subdivision (a)(4) limits summary judgment motions against an adverse party. Subdivision (a)(5) permits a further motion on court leave and good cause, with the full (a)(2) notice requirements. Summary adjudication has its stated distinction.

Method and delivery requirements

For moving papers, CCP 437c(a)(2) adds five, ten or twenty calendar days by the recipient mailing address, and two court days for fax, express mail or other overnight delivery. CCP 1010.6 supplies its separate electronic-service treatment, including two court days where applicable and the next-court-day treatment of noncourt-day service. Establish valid service and the actual event. Section 437c(b)(6) excludes CCP 1005 and 1013 time extensions, preserving CCP 1005(c) delivery of opposition and reply by the next business-day close. Do not import the ordinary sixteen, nine or five court-day motion periods into summary judgment.

Edition and calendar coverage

Section 437c is the retained edition effective January 1, 2025. These presets cover anchors on or after January 1, 2026 and final dates within the independently retained 2026 and 2027 judicial calendar. They require an actual open-day hearing or trial anchor, unchanged statutory periods and no additional closure. Historical editions, future amendments, court orders, actual outages and additional local requirements need separate review. The software coverage limit does not establish that an actual act is late.

• Use ordinary California civil summary judgment or summary adjudication under section 437c. Exclude unlawful detainer and other section 437c(s) possession proceedings, a changed court schedule, and additional actual closures. Establish the actual hearing or trial date independently.
• This is an opening condition after an elapsed interval, for each adverse party, with a distinct court-directed branch. The historical sixty-day expiry preset cannot establish the first permissible motion date. No date is computed or sold.

• General appearance by each party against whom the motion is directed
• Retain evidence of every affected party’s general appearance. Complaint filing, summons service and a different defendant’s appearance are not interchangeable triggers.
• Establish that the sixty-day interval has elapsed for every affected party, or preserve an actual good-cause order allowing an earlier motion after appearance. Separately reserve, serve and file the motion.
• The statute says after sixty days have elapsed. The historical preset adds sixty days and applies an expiry rollover. It does not establish the first permissible act after that interval.
• The condition applies to each party against whom the motion is directed. One party’s appearance date does not establish the interval for another party.
• The court may direct an earlier time after general appearance, with or without notice and upon good cause. Preserve the actual direction rather than assuming permission.
• Subdivision (a)(4) limits summary judgment motions against an adverse party. Subdivision (a)(5) permits a further motion on court leave and good cause, with the full (a)(2) notice requirements. Summary adjudication has its stated distinction.
• Court electronic filing follows CCP 1010.6 and rules 2.253 and 2.259. Preserve receipt and accepted-filing confirmations, fees or waiver and the actual court requirements. Preparing, uploading or serving a document does not prove accepted filing. Rule 2.259(c) has the stated court-system-failure relief and excludes complaints and other initial pleadings. Paper filing requires actual court receipt and the office procedure. A computed date does not reserve a hearing.