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Los Angeles Superior Court Date Calculator: LASC Trial and Discovery Deadlines

Enter one LASC trial date and this Los Angeles court date calculator works the whole pretrial chain backward: the expert demand, the expert exchange, the discovery cutoff, the discovery motion cutoff, and both summary judgment dates. It applies all fourteen California judicial holidays and moves each date in the direction the governing statute actually requires.

  • Six dated milestones from one trial date, each with the statute it came from
  • CCP 2016.060 applied: discovery deadlines move toward trial, not away from it
  • Summary judgment at the current 81 day notice period, with service extensions

Counting to a motion hearing instead of a trial date? The California court deadline calculator counts court days backward from a hearing under CCP 1005(b). To count raw court days in either direction, use the court days calculator. Written discovery responses run on their own 30 day clock, which the discovery deadline calculator handles.

LASC trial worksheet · free, no signup CCP 2024.020

Use the date initially set for trial. A continuance does not reopen discovery.

Only affects the expert demand date, which uses whichever branch of CCP 2034.220 lands closer to trial.

This is a calculation aid, not legal advice. Departments in Los Angeles Superior Court issue their own standing orders, and a courtroom can set dates that differ from the statutory default. Confirm every date against the governing statute and the standing order in your department.

Dates you enter here are processed in your browser and never stored.

The short answer

In a Los Angeles Superior Court civil case, six pretrial dates are fixed by statute the moment a trial date is set. Discovery closes on the 30th day before trial and discovery motions must be heard by the 15th day before it (CCP 2024.020). Expert witness information is exchanged 50 days before trial, on a demand made by the 70th day before trial (CCP 2034.230, 2034.220). A summary judgment motion must be heard at least 30 days before trial and served 81 days before that hearing (CCP 437c), which puts the moving papers roughly four months ahead of the trial date.

The trap is direction. When one of the discovery dates lands on a weekend or judicial holiday, CCP 2016.060 moves it to the next court day closer to the trial date, which is later on the calendar. Notice periods move the other way. The same blocked Saturday can produce two dates several days apart depending on which statute governs.

Last updated September 2026

Exhibit A The rule most calculators miss

Why two deadlines counted from the same day land in different places

Almost every deadline in a Los Angeles civil case is measured backward from the trial date. That sounds simple until one of the computed dates falls on a Saturday, and you have to decide which way it moves.

For anything governed by the Civil Discovery Act, the statute answers it directly. Code of Civil Procedure section 2016.060 provides that when the last day to perform an act under that title falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the time limit is extended until the next court day closer to the trial date. Because these deadlines are counted backward, "closer to the trial date" means later on the calendar. Your discovery cutoff gets a little later, and the window before trial gets a little shorter.

Notice periods behave the opposite way. The 81 days of notice for a summary judgment motion under section 437c(a)(2) is a statutory minimum, so a blocked day pushes you earlier: you serve sooner, because serving later would cut the notice below what the statute requires. Section 12c tells you to count backward from the hearing and to count any service extension backward from the date the base period produced.

So the two rules pull in opposite directions, and they can collide on a single day. That is not a hypothetical, and the worked example below shows a real 2027 trial date where one blocked Saturday produces two dates five days apart.

Civil Discovery Act

Moves later, toward trial

Expert demand, expert exchange, discovery cutoff and the discovery motion cutoff. Section 2016.060 says the next court day closer to the trial date, so a blocked Saturday becomes the following Monday.

Notice periods

Moves earlier, away from the hearing

Summary judgment service under section 437c(a)(2). The period is a minimum, so a blocked day means serving on the prior court day. Serving early is never untimely; serving late can be fatal.

Every LASC pretrial deadline, and the statute behind it

These are the periods the calculator applies. All of them run from the date initially set for trial, which is why a continuance does not move them.

Milestone When Statute If it lands on a closed day
Demand for exchange of expert witness information The 10th day after the trial date is set, or 70 days before trial, whichever is closer to trial CCP 2034.220 Later, toward trial
Exchange of expert witness information 50 days before trial, or 20 days after service of the demand, whichever is closer to trial CCP 2034.230(b) Later, toward trial
Last day to serve summary judgment papers 81 days before the hearing, plus 5, 10 or 20 days for mail or 2 court days for overnight CCP 437c(a)(2), 12c Earlier, away from the hearing
Last day to hear summary judgment 30 days before trial, unless the court orders otherwise for good cause CCP 437c(a)(3) Earlier, to a day the court sits
Discovery cutoff The 30th day before the date initially set for trial CCP 2024.020(a) Later, toward trial
Last day to hear a discovery motion The 15th day before the date initially set for trial CCP 2024.020(a) Later, toward trial

The summary judgment notice period is the one people get wrong from memory. It was 75 days for years and is now 81 days under section 437c(a)(2). If you are working from an old checklist, that alone will cost you a hearing date.

Exhibit B Both directions on one date

A worked example: trial on Monday, March 15, 2027

Take a LASC civil case set for trial on Monday, March 15, 2027, with summary judgment papers served by mail within California. Count back 30 days from trial and you land on Saturday, February 13, 2027. That single blocked Saturday is the trigger for two different deadlines, and they move in opposite directions.

The discovery cutoff is governed by section 2016.060, so it moves toward trial. The next day is Sunday and Monday, February 15 is Presidents' Day, so the cutoff lands on Tuesday, February 16. The last day to hear summary judgment is governed by section 437c(a)(3) instead, so it moves earlier. Friday, February 12 is Lincoln Day, another California judicial holiday, so the hearing has to be on or before Thursday, February 11.

Same raw date, five days apart, in opposite directions, because of two holidays that sit on either side of a weekend. A calculator that applies one rolling rule to everything gets at least one of these wrong.

Milestone Raw count Actual date Why it moved
Serve summary judgment papers 81 days before the hearing, plus 5 for mail Tue, Nov 17, 2026 Open court day, no adjustment. That is 118 days before trial.
Demand expert exchange Mon, Jan 4, 2027 Mon, Jan 4, 2027 Open court day, no adjustment.
Exchange expert information Sun, Jan 24, 2027 Mon, Jan 25, 2027 Sunday, moved toward trial under 2016.060.
Hear summary judgment Sat, Feb 13, 2027 Thu, Feb 11, 2027 Saturday, then Lincoln Day on Friday. Moved earlier.
Discovery cutoff Sat, Feb 13, 2027 Tue, Feb 16, 2027 Saturday, then Presidents' Day on Monday. Moved toward trial.
Hear discovery motions Sun, Feb 28, 2027 Mon, Mar 1, 2027 Sunday, moved toward trial under 2016.060.

Run the same trial date through the calculator above and you will get these six dates. Every date on this page was computed from the statutory text and checked against a second, independently written implementation of the same rules across every trial date from 2026 through 2030, which is 21,912 date computations, with no disagreements.

How often each date actually moves

2027 has 246 California court days, and each of them is a possible trial date. We counted how many of those trial dates produce a milestone that lands on a weekend or judicial holiday and therefore has to be adjusted. The discovery cutoff is the one to watch: it needs adjusting on nearly half of all trial dates.

Milestone Days before trial Trial dates needing an adjustment
Discovery cutoff 30 105 of 246 (43 percent)
Expert exchange 50 54 of 246 (22 percent)
Discovery motion cutoff 15 54 of 246 (22 percent)
Expert demand 70 14 of 246 (6 percent)

The pattern is arithmetic rather than luck. Thirty days is 2 more than four whole weeks, so a Monday trial pushes the cutoff onto a Saturday and a Tuesday trial onto a Sunday. Two of the five weekdays fail immediately, and California's fourteen judicial holidays account for the rest. Seventy days, by contrast, is exactly ten weeks, so the expert demand lands on the same weekday as the trial and only a holiday can disturb it.

The summary judgment lead time is the number that catches people out. Counting 81 days of notice back from a hearing that must itself be at least 30 days before trial, the moving papers have to be served 111 to 117 days before trial with personal or electronic service, and 116 to 123 days if you serve by mail inside California. We computed both ranges across every trial date from 2026 through 2030. The mail figure sits at 116 to 119 days on 99.2 percent of trial dates, and only stretches past 120 when the count runs back through the Christmas and New Year holidays. In practice that means the motion is drafted and out the door about four months before the trial date, often before some of the expert work has even started.

Who uses a Los Angeles court date calculator

Civil litigation paralegals

The person who calendars the case usually gets the trial date first and has to produce the whole chain the same afternoon. Six dates from one input, each with its statute, is the entire job.

Plaintiff firms with volume

Personal injury and employment practices carry hundreds of open matters in Los Angeles Superior Court, which is the largest unified trial court in the United States. A missed expert demand is not recoverable.

Defense counsel on a summary judgment track

The 81 day notice period plus the 30 day pretrial cutoff decides whether a dispositive motion is even possible on the current trial date. Working that backward early is what makes the motion viable.

Solo practitioners

Without a docketing department, the calendar is whatever you remember to enter. A worksheet that names the statute next to each date is easier to check than a rule book.

Anyone inheriting a file

When a case transfers between attorneys, the first question is what has already lapsed. Entering the original trial date shows immediately which windows are closed.

Firms auditing an old calendar

If dates were entered from a checklist written before the summary judgment notice period moved to 81 days, they are wrong. Recomputing is faster than re-reading every entry.

Questions people ask about Los Angeles court deadlines

How many days before trial is the discovery cutoff in California?

Thirty days. Code of Civil Procedure section 2024.020(a) entitles any party as a matter of right to complete discovery on or before the 30th day before the date initially set for trial, and to have discovery motions heard on or before the 15th day before that date. Both periods run from the initial trial date, not from a continued one.

What happens if a discovery deadline falls on a weekend in California?

It moves toward the trial date, not away from it. Section 2016.060 says that when the last day to perform an act under the Civil Discovery Act falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the time limit is extended until the next court day closer to the trial date. For a deadline counted backward from trial that means a later calendar date, which is the opposite of how notice periods move.

Does a trial continuance reopen discovery in California?

No. Section 2024.020(b) states that a continuance or postponement of the trial date does not operate to reopen discovery proceedings. The cutoff stays pinned to the date initially set for trial unless the court grants a motion to reopen under section 2024.050. This is the single most common assumption people get wrong after a trial date moves.

When must expert witness information be exchanged in California?

On the date specified in the demand, which under section 2034.230(b) must be 50 days before the initial trial date, or 20 days after service of the demand, whichever is closer to the trial date. The court can order an earlier or later date on a showing of good cause. The exchange itself happens in writing under section 2034.260.

When can you demand an exchange of expert witness information in California?

Any party may demand an exchange without leave of court. Under section 2034.220 the demand must be made no later than the 10th day after the initial trial date has been set, or 70 days before that trial date, whichever is closer to the trial date. If no party makes a timely demand, there is no exchange at all.

How many days before trial must a summary judgment motion be heard in California?

At least 30 days. Section 437c(a)(3) requires the motion to be heard no later than 30 days before the date of trial unless the court for good cause orders otherwise. Because the motion also needs 81 days of notice under section 437c(a)(2), the papers go out roughly four months before trial.

How many days notice is required for a motion for summary judgment in California?

Eighty one days. Section 437c(a)(2) requires the notice and supporting papers to be served at least 81 days before the hearing. Service by mail adds 5 days within California, 10 days elsewhere in the United States and 20 days outside it, and service by fax, express mail or another overnight method adds two court days.

What holidays do Los Angeles Superior Court observe?

The statewide judicial holidays. Section 133 makes every Saturday and Sunday a judicial holiday and section 135 adds fourteen more, including Lincoln Day, Cesar Chavez Day, Native American Day and the day after Thanksgiving. Individual courthouses can also close for local reasons, so check the court calendar before relying on a date.

Stop recomputing the same six dates

A calculator is the right tool the first time you see a trial date. It is the wrong tool on the fiftieth matter, because nobody re-runs it when a date moves. Caseagent keeps the pretrial chain attached to the case file, so when the trial date changes the dependent dates are recomputed and the ones that are pinned to the initial trial date stay pinned, which is exactly the distinction section 2024.020(b) draws.

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