How do you count days under FRCP Rule 6(a)?

Exclude the day of the triggering event, count every following calendar day including Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, and include the last day. If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the period continues to run until the end of the next day that is none of those. The pre-2009 rule excluding weekends from short periods no longer exists.

When does Rule 6(d) add three days to a federal deadline?

Only when a party must act within a specified time after being served and service was made by mail under Rule 5(b)(2)(C), by leaving the papers with the clerk under Rule 5(b)(2)(D), or by other means consented to in writing under Rule 5(b)(2)(F). The December 1, 2016 amendment removed electronic service under Rule 5(b)(2)(E), so CM/ECF service does not get the extra three days.

Yes. The web calculator is free and runs entirely in your browser, so no matter names or dates are transmitted. CourtClock Pro is a one-time $29 offline single-file edition that adds batch docket calculation, CSV export, calendar (.ics) export with reminders, and saved local-rule offsets.

CourtClock — Federal Deadline Calculator (FRCP Rule 6)

Compute a deadline

Trigger date (service, filing, entry of judgment…)

Deadline type

Number of days

Direction

Add 3 days — service by mail / non-electronic means (Rule 6(d))

Deadline:

How it computes (FRCP Rule 6(a))

1. Exclude the trigger day; count every calendar day including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays — Rule 6(a)(1). 2. If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday, or federal legal holiday (5 U.S.C. § 6103, including observed dates), the period runs to the next accessible business day — Rule 6(a)(1)(C). Backward-counted deadlines roll to the previous business day — Rule 6(a)(5). 3. Rule 6(d) adds 3 days when service is by mail or other non-electronic means, applied before the weekend/holiday rollover. Federal holidays are computed for any year (fixed-date and floating rules, with Sat→Fri / Sun→Mon observance).

CourtClock Pro — run your whole docket, offline

The calculator above is free, forever, and runs entirely in your browser. Pro is for firms that need it at volume and on the record.

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Rule 6(a) weekend & federal-holiday rollover
Rule 6(d) +3-day service rule
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What you actually get: one HTML file, about 20 KB. Open it from your desktop, a network share, or a USB stick — it needs no installer, no internet connection and no admin rights, so it runs on locked-down firm machines and air-gapped review workstations. No client data, matter names or dates ever leave the browser. Site licence for one firm; put it wherever your people need it.

Plain-English guides to the rules behind these dates

How long do you have to answer a complaint in federal court? — the 21-day default and the eight situations that replace it, including removal (7 days) and suits against the United States (60 days).

The Rule 6(d) three-day rule — and why CM/ECF service no longer gets it — the 2016 amendment that made a routine +3 days wrong.

How to count days under Rule 6(a) — forward, backward, and hour-based periods, and when the last day actually ends.

Federal court holidays, 2026 and 2027 — every legal holiday with its weekend-observance shift, plus how state holidays cut one way only.

Federal discovery response deadlines — the 30 days under Rules 33, 34 and 36, the Rule 26(d) timing bar, and the Rule 36 trap that admits your case automatically.

Summary judgment deadlines under Rule 56 — the one national deadline (30 days after the close of discovery) and the three dates your local rule sets instead.

The 30-day deadline to remove a case to federal court — § 1446(b), the later-served-defendant rule, the one-year diversity cap, and the 30-day remand clock.

Deadline to file a notice of appeal (FRAP 4) — 30 days, 60 days against the United States, which motions toll it, and why it is jurisdictional.

Post-trial motion deadlines: the 28-day cliff — Rules 50(b), 52(b) and 59, and the Rule 6(b)(2) bar on extending any of them.