Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

The easiest way to get an extension is to ask the opposing counsel to give you some extra time. If he or she agrees, be sure to mention the agreement into the response that you file with the court, so that the issue does not arise.

If you cannot get an agreement, you can bring an ex parte application for an order extending your time to respond. For this, you will need to give notice to the other parties. Check the court rules to see how much notice you need to give. In some courts, you need to notify the parties by 10:00 a.m., the day before. In other courts, the deadline is earlier or later.

Then, you simply show up in court, at the clerk's office, by 8:30 a.m., pay a fee ($40), and and deliver the application to the court. Be sure to also prepare a proposed order. Both the application and order must be submitted to the court.

In the application, you will need to justify your request for an extension. Often, personal difficulties suffice, e.g. an illness, family problems, religious committments. It is likely that, if the court grants your request, the hearing on the demurrer will also be moved, so that the demurring party's counsel has time to prepare and file a reply and the court has time to consider all of the papers.

Mr. Saltzman is pretty much right. I would add, however, that courts are not fans of granting these kinds of extensions except for good cause that cannot be worked around. Just needing more time will not do it. The key to whether your request is granted or not will be how well your declaration supporting the request persuades the judge that you have an unavoidable timing problem that can only be remedied by an extension of time to file your response and delay the hearing.

McCormick is pretty much right....just out of touch. Court's are likely to take steps to have matters decided on their merits, rather than disposed, by technical, procedural matters.