A motion for a new trial in California asks the trial judge who heard your case to throw out the verdict and start over, based on one of seven grounds set by statute. The deadlines are strict and jurisdictional: you have 15 days from notice of entry of judgment to file your notice of intention, and the judge loses power to rule 75 days after that same notice. Miss either window and the motion is dead, no matter how strong the grounds.
The Seven Grounds You Can Argue
You cannot simply say the jury got it wrong. California law recognizes exactly seven reasons a trial court can grant a new trial, and each must have materially affected the outcome.1California Legislative Information. California Code CCP Section 657
- Irregularity in the proceedings by the court, jury, or opposing party that prevented a fair trial — flawed jury instructions, judicial bias, procedural errors that changed the result.
- Jury misconduct, including consideration of outside evidence, unauthorized communications, undisclosed bias during selection, or resorting to a coin flip or similar random method.
- Accident or surprise that you could not reasonably have anticipated or guarded against, and that affected the outcome.
- Newly discovered evidence that you could not have found through reasonable diligence before trial, significant enough to likely change the result.
- Excessive or inadequate damages — an award so out of proportion to the evidence that it suggests bias, passion, or a misunderstanding of the law.
- Insufficient evidence to justify the verdict, or a verdict that is against the law.
- Error in law that occurred at trial and was excepted to by the moving party.
That last ground is the one people underestimate. If your attorney did not object to a legal error when it happened, you generally cannot raise it for the first time in a new trial motion. The statute requires that the error was “excepted to” at trial.
Harmless Error
Even a real error will not get you a new trial if it was harmless. Courts look at the trial record as a whole and ask whether the result would have been the same without the error. A slightly flawed instruction on a point the jury never seriously contested probably changed nothing. This is where many otherwise valid motions collapse: you can prove the error happened, but you cannot show it mattered.
The Three Deadlines That Control the Motion
The timing rules for new trial motions are jurisdictional. The court has no power to extend them and no discretion to forgive lateness. Three separate clocks run, and blowing any one of them ends the motion.
15 Days to File the Notice of Intention
You must file and serve a notice of intention to move for a new trial within 15 days after the clerk or any party serves written notice that judgment has been entered. If nobody ever serves that notice, the outer limit is 180 days after entry of judgment. Whichever comes first controls.2California Legislative Information. California Code CCP Section 659
One trap: the ordinary mail-service extensions under CCP 1013 do not apply here. If notice of entry of judgment is mailed to you, you still get only 15 days from the date of service. The statute says so explicitly.
Briefing Schedule
After the notice of intention is filed, you have 10 days to serve and file your supporting brief, affidavits, and other documents. The opposing party then has 10 days to file counter-affidavits and a response. You get a final five days for a reply. A judge can extend any of these by up to 10 additional days for good cause.3California Legislative Information. California Code CCP Section 659a
The Court’s 75-Day Window
The judge’s power to rule expires 75 days after the clerk mails notice of entry of judgment, or 75 days after any party serves written notice of entry of judgment, whichever is earlier. If neither notice has been given, the clock runs 75 days from the filing of the first notice of intention. If the judge does not rule within that window, the motion is denied by operation of law.4California Legislative Information. California Code CCP Section 660
That automatic denial is not theoretical. Busy trial courts sometimes let motions sit past the deadline, and when they do, the motion is dead regardless of merit. The only remaining option is a direct appeal.
Effect on Your Appeal Deadline
Filing a valid notice of intention extends the time to file a notice of appeal. The appeal deadline becomes the earliest of: 30 days after the order denying the motion is served, 30 days after the motion is denied by operation of law, or 180 days after entry of judgment. Without a new trial motion, the standard appeal deadline is 60 days after notice of entry of judgment. If you are weighing both options, filing the notice of intention buys you additional time to decide on an appeal without risking the deadline.
How the Motion Must Be Put Together
Formatting matters. A motion built around strong arguments can still be rejected on procedural grounds.
The motion must be in writing and accompanied by a memorandum of points and authorities. Under California Rules of Court, the opening or responding memorandum cannot exceed 15 pages, and a reply is limited to 10 pages. You can apply for permission to exceed the limit at least 24 hours before the filing deadline, with an explanation of why the standard limit is not enough.5Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1113 Memorandum
Supporting declarations and affidavits must be signed under penalty of perjury and based on personal knowledge. An unsworn written declaration in California has the same weight as a sworn affidavit as long as it includes the required certification language, the date, and the place of execution.6California Legislative Information. California Code CCP Section 2015.5
Any exhibit you attach has to be properly authenticated, meaning you introduce enough evidence to show the document is what you claim it is.7California Legislative Information. California Evidence Code Section 1401 Factual statements in your brief must include specific citations to the trial record. If you are arguing the evidence was insufficient, you will almost certainly need certified copies of the trial transcripts, and ordering them takes time and money. Build that into your 10-day briefing window.
The filing fee for a motion for a new trial is $60 under California’s statewide civil fee schedule as of 2026.8Judicial Branch of California. Superior Court of California Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026
Serving the Other Side
Every document must be served on all opposing parties. Attorneys who have appeared in the case must accept electronic service. Unrepresented parties can only be served electronically if they have expressly consented, and they can withdraw that consent at any time using the appropriate Judicial Council form.9California Legislative Information. California Code CCP Section 1010.6
Service by mail generally adds five calendar days to the opposing party’s response deadlines within California, or 10 days if either address is out of state. Those extensions do not apply to the initial notice of intention.10California Legislative Information. California Code CCP Section 1013
The Hearing
Once briefing is complete, the clerk brings the motion to the trial judge, who schedules oral argument. Five days’ notice by mail is required before argument. The motion must be heard by the judge who presided at trial; if that judge is unavailable or absent from the county, another judge on the same court can step in.11California Legislative Information. California Code CCP Section 661
The hearing is not a mini-trial. The judge reviews the written briefs and declarations, hears argument, and decides whether the grounds justify setting aside the verdict. The moving party goes first, explaining how the errors affected the outcome. The opposing side usually responds that the errors were harmless or the evidence too weak. Judges often focus on whether objections were properly raised at trial, since errors that went unchallenged are generally waived.
What the Judge Can Do
The judge has three main options after hearing the motion.
Grant the Motion
If the motion is granted, the prior verdict is vacated and the case resets for a new trial. The judge must specify the legal grounds and reasoning in a written order; a vague or unexplained grant can be reversed on appeal. The new trial can cover all issues or be limited — for example, a retrial on damages alone while leaving liability intact.
Order an Additur or Remittitur
When the only problem is the amount of damages, the court can issue a conditional order instead of retrying the question. If damages were too low, the judge can order an additur, granting a new trial unless the party who won on liability accepts a higher amount the judge considers fair. If damages were too high, the judge can order a remittitur, granting a new trial unless the party who received the award accepts a reduced amount. The parties have 30 days to accept or reject. No response counts as a rejection, and a new trial on damages goes forward automatically.12California Legislative Information. California Code CCP Section 662.5
Deny the Motion
If the motion is denied, the original judgment stands, and the losing party’s remaining option is a direct appeal. Appellate courts review new trial rulings for abuse of discretion, which is a high bar. The appellate court will generally defer to the trial judge unless the ruling was plainly unreasonable or based on an error of law.