A Rule 59(e) motion to alter or amend a judgment asks the same federal district judge who issued a judgment to reconsider and change it, on narrow grounds, within 28 days of the judgment’s entry on the docket.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 59 – New Trial; Altering or Amending a Judgment Courts grant these motions sparingly. Filing one, however, pauses the clock on your right to appeal, which makes the decision of whether and when to file more consequential than the low success rate suggests.
The 28-Day Deadline
You have 28 days from the date the judgment is entered on the court’s docket.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 59 – New Trial; Altering or Amending a Judgment Docket entry is when the clerk records the judgment, which may differ from the date the judge signed the order. Counting from the wrong date is an easy way to miss the deadline.
Under Rule 6(a), you count every calendar day, including weekends and holidays, but if day 28 lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 6 – Computing and Extending Time The day of entry itself is excluded; counting starts the next day.
The deadline cannot be extended. Rule 6(b)(2) specifically prohibits courts from granting extensions for Rule 59(e) motions, and that prohibition applies even if every party agrees to more time.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 6 – Computing and Extending Time No amount of good cause or excusable neglect changes this. Miss the deadline by one day and the court has no authority to hear the motion under Rule 59(e).
A motion labeled Rule 59(e) but filed after day 28 will typically be treated as a Rule 60(b) motion for relief from judgment. Rule 60(b) is generally harder to satisfy, and, critically, it does not pause the appeal clock.3United States Court of International Trade. Rule 60 – Relief from a Judgment or Order A late filing can cost you both the motion and your appeal rights at once.
Grounds the Court Will Accept
Federal courts generally recognize three situations where a Rule 59(e) motion is appropriate: an intervening change in controlling law, newly available evidence, or the need to correct a clear legal error or prevent a serious injustice.4United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. EEOC v. Lockheed Martin Corp. These are narrow categories, and most motions fail because they fall outside them.
Clear Error or Manifest Injustice
The most common ground is that the court made an obvious mistake. This is not the same as thinking the judge weighed the evidence wrong or reached a less persuasive conclusion. Clear error means the court overlooked binding precedent, misapplied a legal standard, or based its ruling on a factual finding that no reasonable reading of the record supports. If your argument boils down to “I think you got it wrong,” that’s what appeals are for.
The related idea of preventing manifest injustice is treated as part of the same ground. A court found manifest injustice, for example, where a ruling rested on an incomplete and inaccurate record.4United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. EEOC v. Lockheed Martin Corp. The bar is high and typically requires something more extreme than a debatable call on the merits.
Newly Available Evidence
You can seek amendment based on evidence that was not available before the judgment was entered. The word is “available,” not “unused.” You must show that reasonable effort before the judgment would not have uncovered it. A document that sat in your own files, or that a subpoena you chose not to issue would have produced, does not qualify.
Intervening Change in Controlling Law
If a higher court issues a decision after the trial court’s judgment that changes the legal rules governing your case, that can justify amendment. The classic example is a Supreme Court opinion overruling the precedent the trial judge relied on. The change must be directly relevant to the legal issues in your case; a new decision in a loosely related area does not qualify.
What the Motion Cannot Do
Most Rule 59(e) motions are denied, and the single biggest reason is that litigants treat them as a second chance to make arguments the court already considered and rejected. Courts consistently hold that the motion is not a vehicle for rehashing old arguments or presenting evidence you could have offered before judgment. If you disagreed with the court’s reasoning, the answer is to appeal, not to repackage the same points.
Raising entirely new legal theories for the first time is equally problematic. If you could have made an argument before judgment and chose not to, a Rule 59(e) motion is not the place to spring it. Courts view that as sandbagging and will deny the motion on that basis alone. The rule exists to fix errors, not to give a party a do-over after seeing how the judge ruled.
Effect on Your Appeal Clock
A timely Rule 59(e) motion suspends the finality of the original judgment, so the 30-day window to file a notice of appeal does not begin running while the motion is pending.5Supreme Court of the United States. Banister v. Davis Once the district court rules on the motion, the 30-day appeal period starts fresh from the date of that ruling.6Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 4 – Appeal as of Right When Taken
If you file a notice of appeal after judgment but before the court decides the Rule 59(e) motion, the notice is not wasted. Under the appellate rules, it becomes effective once the court enters its order on the motion.6Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 4 – Appeal as of Right When Taken You do not need to refile.
Enforcement While the Motion Is Pending
Filing a Rule 59(e) motion does not automatically stop the winning party from enforcing the judgment. Rule 62(a) provides a 30-day automatic stay of enforcement after any judgment is entered, regardless of whether a post-judgment motion is filed.7Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 62 – Stay of Proceedings to Enforce a Judgment Because a Rule 59(e) motion must be filed within 28 days, the automatic stay will usually still be running when you file.
The problem is what happens if the court takes time to rule after the 30-day stay expires. At that point, the opposing party can begin collecting on the judgment. To prevent enforcement beyond the automatic stay, you need to post a bond or provide other security that the court approves under Rule 62(b).7Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 62 – Stay of Proceedings to Enforce a Judgment If the judgment is for a large sum, securing that bond can be expensive. Plan for the cost before filing if enforcement timing matters.
Filing the Motion
The core filing is a written motion stating that you seek to alter or amend the judgment under Rule 59(e), accompanied by a memorandum laying out your legal arguments with citations to statutes, rules, and case law. Attach supporting affidavits or exhibits if you are relying on newly available evidence. Identify the specific judgment by case number and docket entry, and clearly state which recognized ground you are invoking.
Every federal district court has local rules imposing additional requirements, including page limits, font size, and formatting standards. These vary significantly from one district to another and are published on each court’s website. Ignoring local rules is a common and avoidable way to have a motion rejected on procedural grounds before the court reaches the substance.
Most filings go through the federal Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, known as CM/ECF.8United States Courts. Electronic Filing (CM/ECF) Attorneys generally must use this system. If you are representing yourself without CM/ECF access, you can file paper copies at the clerk’s window or send them by certified mail. Either way, include a certificate of service showing that all other parties received a copy.
After filing, the opposing party gets a set period under local rules to respond in writing. You may then have the opportunity to file a short reply. Once briefing is complete, the court typically decides the motion on the papers without a hearing and issues a written order granting or denying the request.
Rule 59(e) or Rule 60(b)?
Rule 60(b) also provides a way to challenge a judgment after entry, but it works differently in almost every respect. Choosing the wrong rule, or filing under the right rule at the wrong time, can forfeit your rights.
Rule 60(b) covers a broader set of grounds, including mistake or excusable neglect, fraud by the opposing party, a void judgment, or the satisfaction or reversal of the underlying judgment. It also includes a catch-all provision for “any other reason that justifies relief.” For the most common grounds, the deadline is one year from entry of the judgment; for the catch-all, the motion must be made within a “reasonable time.”3United States Court of International Trade. Rule 60 – Relief from a Judgment or Order
The critical practical difference is that a Rule 60(b) motion does not pause the appeal deadline or suspend the judgment’s finality.3United States Court of International Trade. Rule 60 – Relief from a Judgment or Order The Supreme Court in Banister v. Davis described Rule 59(e) as a “one-time effort to point out alleged errors in a just-issued decision” that suspends finality, while Rule 60(b) is a separate attack on a judgment that has already become final.5Supreme Court of the United States. Banister v. Davis If preserving appeal rights matters to you, the distinction between these two rules is where cases are won and lost.
Risk of Sanctions
Courts can impose sanctions under Rule 11 if a Rule 59(e) motion is filed without a good-faith legal or factual basis. Rule 11 requires that every filing be supported by a reasonable inquiry into the facts and the law.9Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers A motion that merely rehashes rejected arguments or is filed solely to delay enforcement invites this risk.
Sanctions must be “limited to what suffices to deter repetition” and can include nonmonetary directives, a penalty paid into court, or an order to pay the opposing party’s reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in responding.9Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers There is no fixed dollar range; the amount depends on the circumstances, including the complexity of the case and the work the opposing party had to do. Before filing, assess honestly whether your motion raises a legitimate issue under one of the recognized grounds rather than simply expressing frustration with the outcome.