A motion for reconsideration in federal court is not a single rule but a choice among three. If the ruling you want changed is a non-final order in an ongoing case, Rule 54(b) applies. If a final judgment was entered within the last 28 days, Rule 59(e) is the vehicle. If more time has passed, or your reason for seeking relief goes beyond a legal error, you look to Rule 60(b). Which rule fits controls your deadline, your burden, and whether you can still appeal afterward.
Which Rule Applies to Your Situation
Start by asking whether the court has entered a final judgment resolving every claim against every party. If it has not, the ruling you dislike is a non-final order, and Rule 54(b) governs. That rule provides that a non-final order “may be revised at any time before the entry of a judgment adjudicating all the claims and all the parties’ rights and liabilities.”1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 54 – Judgment; Costs There is no fixed deadline, and the standard is less demanding than what Rules 59 or 60 impose. A denied motion to compel, a partial summary judgment ruling, an evidentiary order — all of these live under Rule 54(b) while the case continues.
Filing a Rule 59(e) motion against a non-final order is a common and costly mistake. It can confuse the docket and, in some circumstances, create uncertainty about when appeal deadlines begin. If the case is still going, use Rule 54(b).
Once a final judgment is entered, the timing of your motion decides the rest. Within 28 days, Rule 59(e) is available. After that, only Rule 60(b) remains.
Rule 59(e): The 28-Day Window
A Rule 59(e) motion to alter or amend a final judgment must be filed no later than 28 days after the judgment is entered on the docket. The deadline is absolute. The advisory committee notes confirm that Rule 6(b) “continues to prohibit expansion of the 28-day period.”2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 59 – New Trial; Altering or Amending a Judgment One day late is too late, and no judge can grant an extension.
Within that window, Rule 59(e) is the most direct way to ask the same judge to take another look. There is no separate list of grounds in the rule text; courts apply the general reconsideration standard discussed below.
Rule 60(b): After the Window Closes
Rule 60(b) is the route for relief from a final judgment when 59(e) is no longer available or when the problem is not a straightforward legal error. Courts treat these motions with more skepticism because final judgments are supposed to stay final. The rule lists six grounds:3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 60 – Relief from a Judgment or Order
- Mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. Courts weigh prejudice to the other side, length of delay, reason for it, and good faith.
- Newly discovered evidence that could not have been found in time through reasonable diligence. Evidence you knew about but did not use does not qualify.
- Fraud or misconduct by the opposing party.
- The judgment is void, meaning it was entered without proper jurisdiction or in violation of due process.
- The judgment has been satisfied, released, or is based on an earlier ruling that was later reversed, or enforcing it going forward would no longer be fair.
- Any other reason justifying relief — the catch-all.
Motions based on mistake, newly discovered evidence, or fraud must be filed within one year of the judgment. The remaining grounds have no fixed outer limit but must be brought within a “reasonable time,” and courts are unsympathetic to parties who delay.
The catch-all is the hardest ground to win on. Courts require “extraordinary circumstances” and will not let you use it to escape the one-year limit on a fraud or mistake claim by relabeling the same argument. It exists for situations the rule’s drafters could not have anticipated, not as a workaround for missed deadlines.
What Courts Actually Grant Reconsideration For
Whether you file under Rule 59(e) or Rule 60(b), federal courts recognize three substantive reasons to reconsider a ruling. These come from case law rather than the rule text, and they are applied consistently across circuits.
An Intervening Change in Controlling Law
A statute is amended, a regulation is revised, or a binding appellate decision changes the rule the court applied. The change has to actually affect the outcome. A new decision touching a tangential issue is not enough.
Previously Unavailable Evidence
Evidence you could not have found in time despite diligent effort, and that would likely change the result. Unused is not the same as unavailable. If it was locatable with reasonable effort, the court will not treat it as new.
Clear Error of Law or Fact
This is the most common ground and the most frequently denied. Clear error means the court applied the wrong legal standard, misread a statute in an obvious way, or made a factual finding that flatly contradicts the record. It does not mean the judge weighed the same facts differently than you would have. Judges recognize the difference between “you got it wrong” and “you relied on something the record demonstrably contradicts.”
Arguments That Will Get Your Motion Denied
Most reconsideration motions fail for the same reasons. A motion is not a do-over. You cannot raise arguments you could have made before the ruling but chose not to. You cannot introduce evidence that was available during the original proceedings. And you cannot restate the same points more forcefully and hope for a different answer.
Arguments raised for the first time in a reconsideration motion are treated as forfeited across the circuits. The reasoning is simple: if the opportunity was there and you did not take it, the court owes you no second chance. This applies with particular force when you are represented by counsel. An attorney’s failure to raise an available argument is not itself a ground for reconsideration.
Many federal districts add their own restrictions through local rules — shorter deadlines, page limits, or a requirement that you identify the specific point of law or fact the court overlooked. Check the local rules for your district before filing.
What Filing Does to Your Appeal Deadline and Enforcement
The Appeal Clock
A timely Rule 59(e) motion pauses the deadline for filing a notice of appeal. Under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4, the appeal clock does not start running until the court disposes of the last timely post-judgment motion. A Rule 60(b) motion gets the same tolling effect, but only if it is filed within the 28-day window that applies to Rule 59(e) motions.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 4 – Appeal as of Right; When Taken A Rule 60(b) motion filed after 28 days does not pause the appeal deadline at all. Waiting for a ruling on a late 60(b) motion before filing your notice of appeal can cost you the appeal entirely.
Enforcement and Stays
Filing a reconsideration motion does not stop the other side from collecting. Rule 62(a) provides an automatic 30-day stay of execution after a judgment is entered. After that, enforcement can proceed unless the court orders otherwise. Rule 62(b) lets the court stay enforcement while a Rule 59 or Rule 60 motion is pending, but a stay is discretionary, not automatic, and the court can require a bond or other security.5Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 62 – Stay of Proceedings to Enforce a Judgment If you need to prevent enforcement while your motion is pending, request the stay when you file. Waiting until wages are being garnished or accounts are being levied makes emergency relief much harder to obtain.
The Cost of a Weak Motion
A groundless reconsideration motion carries real risk. Rule 11 requires that every motion be supported by existing law or a good-faith argument to change it, and not be filed for delay or to run up costs.6Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions A motion that reargues a rejected position without identifying a genuine error, a change in law, or new evidence can cross that line.
If the court finds a Rule 11 violation, sanctions can include an order to pay the opposing party’s reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in responding.6Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions Sanctions are limited to what will deter the conduct, but in complex cases those fees can be substantial. And on appeal, the denial of a reconsideration motion is reviewed only for abuse of discretion, one of the hardest standards to overcome. If your real argument is that the judge got it wrong, an appeal is the appropriate venue. A reconsideration motion is not.