When must I oppose leave to file an original-action complaint?

Identify the motion seeking leave and its accompanying initial pleading in an original action.

Establish the adverse party’s receipt of those papers. Docketing under Rule 17.4 and incoming receipt are distinct events.

Read the actual Court directions and any authorized timing change. This guide does not determine original-jurisdiction eligibility.

1. Establish receipt of both the leave motion and the initial pleading. Do not substitute Supreme Court docketing.
2. Exclude the established trigger day.
3. Count 60 calendar days.
4. Apply Rule 30.1 final-day adjustment.
5. Complete the required filing by that date.

Supreme Court Rule 30.1 excludes the trigger day and includes every intermediate calendar day. For periods shorter than seven days it excludes intermediate closed days. Each fixed period reviewed here is at least seven days.

Count from established receipt of both papers. The Court’s docketing date starts a different supporting-amicus period and does not establish this receipt event.

If the final day is Saturday, Sunday, a federal legal holiday listed in 5 U.S.C. 6103 or a Court-building closure ordered by the Court or Chief Justice, Rule 30.1 continues the period to the next day that is none of those. Check actual Court closure orders. The calculator does not infer additional closures.

Fictitious example

Fictitious receipt of the leave motion and initial pleading on August 24, 2026. The adverse party files an opposition under the ordinary Rule 17.5 schedule. Exclude the established trigger day, August 24, 2026. Counting 60 calendar days reaches October 23, 2026. The final day is an open weekday.

Fictitious facts and dates. No different schedule, additional Court closure or extension is assumed.

Original jurisdiction

Rule 17.1 limits this procedure to an original-jurisdiction action. An extraordinary writ aiding appellate jurisdiction uses Rule 20 instead.

Copies and service proof

Rule 17.5 specifies forty opposition copies with Rule 29 proof of service. Filing without proof does not establish compliance.

State recipient

Rule 17.3 requires service on both Governor and Attorney General when the adverse party is a State. Check the actual required recipients.

Distribution and reply

Rule 17.5 describes waiver, expiration and a minimum ten-day distribution wait following a timely opposition. A reply does not defer distribution, and the waiting interval is not an exact consideration date.

Further Court directions

After considering the motion, the Court may grant or deny leave, set argument, require additional documents or direct other proceedings. This default does not establish a later schedule.

• The calculator counts the encoded default period after an established trigger. It does not determine jurisdiction, party alignment or the effect of a particular order.
• Check the Court’s docket, actual directions and proof of the required act.

• Identify the original-action leave motion and initial pleading.
• Verify the adverse party’s receipt of both papers.
• Check actual timing directions and any authorized extension.
• Prepare forty opposition copies and required service proof.
• Check the special State recipients where applicable.
• Preserve receipt, separate service and filing evidence.
• Rule 29.2 distinguishes timely paper receipt, qualifying USPS postmark, commercial-carrier delivery and proper electronic submission. Under the March 2026 rule, electronic timeliness requires the paper copies to be delivered or mailed by a specified method within three days. Rule 29.7 and the current guidelines impose additional electronic-submission requirements for represented filers and identify exceptions. Filing with the Court does not itself transmit the document to other parties.
• Check represented-filer electronic requirements and paper-copy requirements. The March 2026 guidelines exempt specified sealed and privacy-sensitive filings from electronic submission.
• Preserve both filing and separate service evidence.