Pick The Best Day Of The Week For Your Motion Hearing

Do yourself a favor. Don’t set your big state court motion for hearing on a Friday. It’s not that judges are itching to get out the door (though that may be true). Fridays are always the heaviest motion day of the week in state court. The calendars are jammed with summary judgement motions because the code requires them to be heard no later than 30 days before trial (which ends up being a Friday).

Try Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday for your motion. On summary judgment, these days also give you up to two extra days to prepare your reply brief. That’s because you have to file your reply brief five calendar days before the hearing. If the hearing is on a Thursday or Friday, the fifth day before hearing falls on Saturday or Sunday (when the court is closed), meaning you have to get it on file by Friday. That short-changes you by one or two days. The same calendar math does not work for other motions, but Friday is still a bad day over-all.