How to File a Writ of Certiorari: Deadline, Petition, and Fees

To file a petition for a writ of certiorari, you draft a booklet-format petition that meets the Supreme Court’s Rule 14 content requirements, file 40 copies with the Clerk within 90 days of the lower court’s judgment, pay the $300 docket fee, and serve a copy on every other party. The rules governing format, content, and timing are strict, and the Clerk’s office returns filings that do not comply.

The 90-Day Filing Deadline

You have 90 days from the date the lower court entered its judgment to file your petition with the Supreme Court Clerk. The clock runs from the docket entry date, not from the date the mandate issues, which is a common source of missed deadlines because mandates often follow weeks later.

If any party filed a timely petition for rehearing in the lower court, the clock resets. The 90-day window then starts from the date the rehearing petition is denied, or from the new judgment if rehearing is granted.¹

For state cases, the petition must come from the state’s court of last resort. If that court has discretionary review and declined to hear the case, the 90 days runs from the denial date.¹

A single Justice may grant an extension of up to 60 days for good cause. The application must be filed at least 10 days before the original deadline expires, must give specific reasons for the delay, and must include copies of the lower court’s opinion and any rehearing orders. Extensions are not favored, so a general need for more preparation time is unlikely to qualify.¹

Who Can File the Petition

Only attorneys admitted to the Supreme Court Bar can file documents with the Court. To qualify, an attorney must have been admitted to practice before the highest court of a state, territory, or the District of Columbia for at least three years immediately before applying, with no adverse disciplinary actions during that period.² The application requires a certificate of good standing from the relevant state court and a $200 fee payable to the United States Supreme Court.³

If you are not represented by a Bar member and cannot afford counsel, you may be able to file the petition yourself under the in forma pauperis rules described below.

Gather Your Records Before Drafting

Before drafting, collect everything the petition and its required appendix will reference:

The final decision from the court whose judgment you want reviewed, along with any concurrences or dissents, plus the intermediate appellate opinion if there was one.
Any order granting or denying rehearing, because the denial date may control your filing deadline.
The original trial court judgment and other relevant orders from the proceedings below.
A list of every state and federal proceeding directly related to your case, with docket numbers, case captions, and judgment dates.
The full text of every constitutional provision, statute, or regulation at issue. Lengthy provisions can be cited in the body and reproduced in the appendix.

These materials form the backbone of the appendix that must accompany the petition.⁴

Required Sections of the Petition

Rule 14 prescribes a specific order for the petition’s contents. Deviations can prompt the Clerk to return the filing.

Questions Presented. A concise statement of the legal questions you want the Court to decide. It appears on the first page after the cover, with nothing else on that page. The Court will consider only the questions listed here, so this section carries more weight than any other.
Parties and Corporate Disclosure. A list of all parties to the lower court proceeding if the caption does not name them all, plus a corporate disclosure statement identifying any parent corporation or publicly held company owning 10% or more of the party’s stock.
Related Cases. The list of directly related proceedings described above.
Table of Contents and Table of Authorities. Required if the petition exceeds 1,500 words in booklet format or five pages in standard paper format.
Opinions and Orders Below. Citations to official and unofficial reports of every opinion and order in the case.
Basis for Jurisdiction. The date the judgment was entered, any rehearing dates, the statutory basis for the Court’s jurisdiction, and other procedural details.
Constitutional and Statutory Provisions. Verbatim text of the relevant provisions, or citations with full text in the appendix for lengthy ones.
Statement of the Case. The factual and procedural history explaining how the federal question was raised and decided below.
Argument. Why the Court should grant review, focused on the Rule 10 grounds: a split among lower courts, a conflict with Supreme Court precedent, or an important unsettled federal question.
Appendix. The lower court opinions and orders, along with any statutory text not reproduced in the body.

The statement of any question is treated as including every subsidiary question fairly included within it.⁴

What the Court Is Looking For

The Court does not take cases simply to correct errors below. Rule 10 identifies three categories that justify review: a conflict between federal circuits or between a federal appeals court and a state high court on the same legal question, a lower court decision that squarely contradicts Supreme Court precedent, and an important federal question that has not been definitively answered.⁵ A petition that argues only that the lower court misapplied a clear standard almost never succeeds. The argument section must show the Justices why the case matters beyond the two parties involved.

Formatting the Booklet

For paid cases, the petition must be printed in booklet format on paper measuring 6-1/8 by 9-1/4 inches, with a white cover made of 65-pound weight paper. The text must use a Century family typeface (such as Century Expanded or New Century Schoolbook) at 12 points with at least 2-point leading between lines, printed on both sides of opaque, unglazed paper of at least 60-pound weight.⁶

The petition’s text cannot exceed 9,000 words.⁷ Because these specifications are so unusual, most petitioners hire a specialized Supreme Court printing company to produce the booklets. Those printers know the rules and can turn a manuscript into compliant booklets quickly.

Filing, Copies, Fee, and Service

The petitioner must file 40 copies of the booklet-format petition and appendix with the Clerk of the Supreme Court.⁸ A docket fee of $300 must accompany the filing, payable by personal check, cashier’s check, money order, or certified check made out to “Clerk, Supreme Court of the United States.”⁹ The fee and the certificate of service should travel with the petition rather than arriving separately.

Attorneys must also submit an electronic version through the Court’s electronic filing system at file.supremecourt.gov.¹⁰ Electronic submission does not replace the paper copies. Both are required.

You must serve a copy of the petition on every other party. A certificate of service listing the names and addresses of those served must be filed with the Clerk. When filing electronically, the certificate should reflect both the electronic transmission to other parties and the expected delivery of paper copies.¹¹

Filing Without the Ability to Pay

If you cannot afford the $300 docket fee and the cost of booklet printing, you can file a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. The motion must include an affidavit or declaration detailing your financial situation and be filed alongside the petition itself.¹²

If IFP status is granted, the docket fee is waived and the petition may be prepared on standard 8-1/2 by 11-inch paper instead of in booklet format. The page limit in that format is 40 pages, not counting preliminary pages or the appendix. An inmate confined to an institution and not represented by counsel may file a single copy. All other IFP petitioners must file an original and 10 copies.¹²

What Happens After You File

Once the petition is docketed, the respondent has 30 days to file a brief in opposition arguing why review should be denied.¹³ The respondent can waive that right, though waiver is uncommon in seriously contested cases.

After the opposition is filed, you may file a reply brief. The reply is limited to 3,000 words and should rebut the opposition rather than repeat the petition.⁶

The Clerk then distributes the petition, opposition, and any reply to the Justices no fewer than 14 days after the opposition brief was filed. You can waive that 14-day period to speed distribution.¹³

The Justices discuss certiorari petitions at private conferences. For a petition to be granted, at least four of the nine Justices must vote to hear the case, a practice known as the Rule of Four.¹⁴ The Court then issues an order granting or denying the petition. A denial is not a ruling on the merits; it means the case did not attract four votes and the lower court’s decision stands. If the petition is granted, the case moves to full merits briefing and oral argument.

1
Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rule 13 – Review on Certiorari: Time for Petitioning
2
Supreme Court of the United States. Important Information for Admission to the Bar
3
Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rule 5 – Admission to the Bar
4
Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rule 14 – Content of a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari
5
Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rule 10 – Considerations Governing Review on Writ of Certiorari
6
Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rule 33 – Document Preparation: Booklet Format; 8 1/2- by 11-Inch Paper Format
7
Supreme Court of the United States. Guide to Filing Paid Cases
8
Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rule 12 – Review on Certiorari: How Sought; Parties
9
Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rule 38 – Fees
10
Supreme Court of the United States. Electronic Filing
11
Supreme Court of the United States. Guidelines for the Submission of Documents to the Supreme Court’s Electronic Filing System
12
Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rule 39 – Proceedings In Forma Pauperis
13
Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rule 15 – Briefs in Opposition; Reply Briefs; Supplemental Briefs
14
Federal Judicial Center. The Supreme Court’s Rule of Four