CourtDeadlines.com is an educational resource designed to help lawyers, law students, and self-represented litigants understand litigation deadlines and procedural rules.
The site provides plain-language explanations of court rules, procedural concepts, and litigation timelines. It also offers practical tools such as deadline calculators, reference guides, and procedural checklists that help users quickly determine when filings are due.
How We Started
Like many useful legal tools, CourtDeadlines.com began as a simple effort to share knowledge.
In 2017, a litigation attorney began publishing short guides explaining common court deadlines and procedural rules. The original goal was modest: create a place where lawyers, law students, and self-represented litigants could quickly find clear explanations of how litigation deadlines work.
Anyone who practices litigation knows the problem. Procedural rules are often written in dense language and spread across multiple rule sets. Calculating deadlines can require jumping between rules, counting days carefully, and remembering exceptions for weekends, holidays, and service methods.
Even experienced attorneys sometimes double-check their calculations.
The early articles focused on breaking down complicated rules into plain-language explanations that lawyers could read quickly. Instead of quoting rules without context, the site began translating them into practical guidance about what deadlines actually mean in real practice.
Over time, readers began returning for the explanations and reference materials. What started as a small collection of calculators gradually expanded into a larger project focused on litigation timelines and procedural tools.
As the site grew, new resources were added, including:
- Litigation deadline guides
- Procedural rule explanations
- Practical litigation references
- Additional court deadline calculators and tools
Litigation deadlines are some of the most important (and most confusing) parts of civil procedure. Court rules often calculate deadlines using complex formulas that depend on service methods, weekends, holidays, and rule-specific timing provisions.
CourtDeadlines.com was created to make these rules a little easier to understand.
The goal is simple: translate procedural rules into clear explanations and practical tools that help users navigate the litigation timeline with confidence.
An Evolving Resource
CourtDeadlines.com is updated and expanded as rules change and as new procedural questions recur. The site grows incrementally and is guided by use and revision. Additions to the site tend to follow a familiar path: a deadline that requires frequent confirmation, a rule that is often misapplied, or a timing issue that benefits from a visual explanation.
To maintain the integrity of our tools and content, CourtDeadlines.com regularly reviews content as follows:
- Primary Source Review: Our calculators and guides are built directly from the current text of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (TRCP) and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP).
- User-Driven Content: As an evolving resource, we encourage practitioners to contact us regarding rule changes or specific procedural scenarios that may benefit from new tools.
Important: Verify All Calculations
The information on CourtDeadlines.com is provided for educational and informational purposes only.
Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice, and use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Procedural rules and deadlines can vary by jurisdiction and may change over time. Users should always review the applicable court rules and consult a qualified attorney for advice about a specific legal matter.
Contact us
If you want to get in touch with us, fill out the form on our contact page.
Helpful Procedural Resources
For users who want to review the primary sources governing civil deadlines, the following public resources provide the official rules and reference materials relied on by courts and practitioners.
Federal Civil Procedure
- United States Courts – Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
The official text of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including time-counting rules and filing requirements.
https://www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/current-rules-and-forms/federal-rules-civil-procedure - United States Courts – Local Rules by District
Links to individual federal district court websites and local rules, which often control briefing and hearing deadlines.
https://www.uscourts.gov/court-rules-and-forms/local-rules
Texas State Courts
- Texas Judicial Branch – Texas Rules of Civil Procedure
The official source for the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, including pleading deadlines, discovery periods, and motion practice.
https://www.txcourts.gov/rules-forms/rules-standards/ - Texas Judicial Branch – Supreme Court of Texas Orders
Administrative and emergency orders that may affect procedural deadlines statewide.
https://www.txcourts.gov/supreme/orders-opinions/
Time-Counting and Filing Guidance
- United States Courts – CM/ECF Filing Policies
Guidance on electronic filing systems and filing deadlines in federal courts.
https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/electronic-filing-cmecf - Texas Judicial Branch – eFileTexas
Information on electronic filing requirements and timing for Texas courts.
https://www.efiletexas.gov/
Self-Help and Rule Navigation (General Reference)
- Texas Judicial Branch – Texas Rules & Forms Library
Consolidated access to procedural rules and official forms used in Texas courts.
https://www.txcourts.gov/forms/