New York’s 30-Day Appeal Clock Under CPLR 5513: Service With Notice of Entry, Not Entry, Starts It

Short answer: in New York, an appeal as of right has to be taken within 30 days after a party serves the appellant with the judgment or order and written notice of its entry. Serving by mail within the state adds 5 days, bringing it to 35. Entry by itself does not start anything.

What is the deadline to file a notice of appeal in New York?

CPLR 5513(a) says: “An appeal as of right must be taken within thirty days after service by a party upon the appellant” of a copy of the judgment or order and written notice of its entry. It also provides that “when the appellant has served a copy of the judgment or order and written notice of its entry,” the 30 days are measured from the appellant’s own service.

What sets the clock running is service by a party, not entry by the clerk. An entered order that has never been served with notice of entry starts no 5513(a) clock at all. That hands control to the winning side. Serving notice of entry right away forces the other side to decide on an appeal, and it also starts the serving party’s own clock for any cross-appeal.

How is an appeal taken under CPLR 5515?

You take the appeal by “serving on the adverse party a notice” of appeal and “filing it in the office where the judgment or order of the court of original instance is entered.” CPLR 5515(1) also requires that “A notice shall designate the party taking the appeal,” together with “the judgment or order or specific part of the judgment or order appealed from” and the court the appeal goes to.

If one act is done on time and the other is missed, CPLR 5520(a) covers the situation where the appellant “serves or files a timely notice of appeal” but “neglects through mistake or excusable neglect to do another required act within the time limited.” In that case the court may “grant an extension of time for curing the omission.” Under CPLR 5520(c), the appellate court can treat a premature notice, or one that misdescribes what is appealed, as valid in the interest of justice.

How many days does service by mail add to the CPLR 5513 deadline?

CPLR 5513(d) deals with “Additional time where service of judgment or order and notice of entry is served by mail or overnight delivery service,” and it does so by pointing to CPLR 2103(b)(2) and (b)(6). Under 2103(b)(2), “where a period of time prescribed by law is measured from the service of a paper and service is by mail,” an in-state mailing adds five days, and it is “six days if the mailing is made from outside the state but within the geographic boundaries of the United States.” Under 2103(b)(6), overnight delivery adds “one business day.”

The electronic service provision, 2103(b)(7), has no added-days clause in its text. Whether your last day is day 30, day 30 plus one business day, or day 35 or 36 turns on the method of service, not the entry date.

CPLR 5513 and related rules at a glance

Rule	Operative language	Source
CPLR 5513(a)	“An appeal as of right must be taken within thirty days after service by a party upon the appellant”	nysenate.gov
CPLR 5513(b)	“A motion for permission to appeal must be made within thirty days.”	nysenate.gov
CPLR 5513(c)	“within ten days after such service” of the adverse notice, or the (a) or (b) time, “whichever is longer”	nysenate.gov
CPLR 2103(b)(2)	Mail: five days in state; “six days if the mailing is made from outside the state but within the geographic boundaries of the United States”	nysenate.gov
CPLR 2103(b)(6)	Overnight delivery: “one business day shall be added to the prescribed period”	nysenate.gov
CPLR 5514(c)	“No extension of time shall be granted for taking an appeal or for moving for permission to appeal” except under 5514, 1022 or 5520	nysenate.gov
Gen. Constr. Law 25-a(1)	A period that “ends on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday” may be completed “on the next succeeding business day”	nysenate.gov

Can a New York court extend the time to appeal?

Hardly ever. CPLR 5514(c) provides that “No extension of time shall be granted for taking an appeal or for moving for permission to appeal,” except under 5514, section 1022 or section 5520. Under 5514(a), when an appeal is dismissed or a leave motion is denied and another way to appeal is still available, the time for it runs from the dismissal or denial. Under 5514(b), if the attorney “dies, is removed or suspended, or becomes physically or mentally incapacitated” before time runs out, the appeal can be taken within 60 days of that event.

A general motion to extend time is not among those exceptions. Our piece on CPLR 2004 and 2005 extensions explains ordinary deadlines, and 5514(c) is the reason that framework does not reach the notice of appeal.

Worked example: counting a New York appeal deadline

General Construction Law 20 counts days “exclusive of the calendar day from which the reckoning is made,” and 25-a(1) pushes a deadline that falls on a weekend or holiday to the next business day.

• The order is entered on Monday, November 9, 2026. Entry by itself starts nothing.
• On Thursday, November 12, 2026, the prevailing party mails the order with notice of entry from within New York.
• Day 30 falls on Saturday, December 12, 2026. Adding five mail days makes day 35 Thursday, December 17, 2026, the last day to serve and file.
• If the papers had been handed over personally on November 12, day 30 would still land on Saturday, December 12, and 25-a(1) would push the deadline to Monday, December 14, 2026.
• The losing party personally serves its notice of appeal on Thursday, December 10, 2026. The prevailing party’s ten days under 5513(c) end on Sunday, December 20, which rolls to Monday, December 21, 2026. Its own 5513(a) time, counted from its November 12 service, ran out no later than December 17, so December 21 is the longer period and controls the cross-appeal.

Drafting-ready text: notice of appeal and deadline memo

CPLR 5515(1) calls for three designations: the party appealing, the order or the specific part appealed from, and the court.

NOTICE OF APPEAL

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that [plaintiff/defendant] [NAME] hereby appeals to the [Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, ___ Judicial Department / other court to which the appeal is taken] from the [order/judgment] of the [Supreme Court, ___ County] (Hon. [___]), dated [DATE] and entered in the office of the [___ County Clerk] on [DATE OF ENTRY], [and from each and every part thereof / and specifically from the part that ___].

Dated: [CITY], New York, [DATE]
[FIRM NAME], By: ______________ [Attorney name], Attorneys for [Appellant]
TO: [Counsel for each adverse party]

DEADLINE MEMO: Entered [DATE]. Notice of entry served by [party] on [DATE] by [personal / mail in state / mail out of state / overnight / electronic]. 30-day date (CPLR 5513(a)): [DATE]. Added days (CPLR 2103(b)): [0 / 5 / 6 / 1 business day]. GCL 25-a roll: [yes/no]. Controlling date: [DATE]. Served on [parties, DATE]; filed in [office, DATE]. Cross-appeal date (CPLR 5513(c)): [DATE].

How the New York rule compares in California, federal, and bankruptcy court

California. CRC 8.104(a)(1) uses whichever comes first of “60 days after the superior court clerk serves on the party filing the notice of appeal” a notice of entry or filed-endorsed copy, “60 days after the party filing the notice of appeal serves or is served by a party,” or “180 days after entry of judgment.” California, unlike New York, has an outside limit counted from entry, and rule 8.104(b) says, “Except as provided in rule 8.66, no court may extend the time to file a notice of appeal.” See our CRC 8.104 notice of appeal guide.

Federal district court. FRAP 4(a)(1)(A) requires the notice to be filed “within 30 days after entry of the judgment or order appealed from,” and 4(a)(1)(B) allows 60 days in the listed cases involving the United States. Here entry, not service, starts the clock, and under 4(a)(4)(A) timely Rule 50(b), 52(b) and 59 motions, as well as qualifying Rule 54 and 60 motions, restart it from “the entry of the order disposing of the last such remaining motion.”

Bankruptcy court. FRBP 8002(a)(1) gives 14 days “after the judgment, order, or decree to be appealed is entered,” although under 8002(d)(1) “the bankruptcy court may, on motion, extend the time to file a notice of appeal” in the way the rule describes.

Pre-filing checklist for a New York notice of appeal

• Get the entered order and every paper that was served with notice of entry.
• Use the affidavit of service to find out who served, on whom, and by what method.
• Count 30 days, add the 2103(b) days, and apply General Construction Law 25-a.
• Check whether the order is appealable as of right or requires a 5513(b) leave motion.
• Include the three designations required by CPLR 5515(1).
• Serve every adverse party and file in the office of entry, and do both before the deadline.
• If you are served with an adverse notice, put the 5513(c) cross-appeal date on the calendar.
• After that, move on to perfection and the Appellate Division brief requirements.

Frequently asked questions

Does the CPLR 5513 clock start when the order is entered?

No. Under CPLR 5513(a), the 30 days are counted from a party’s service of a copy of the judgment or order with written notice of its entry, or from the appellant’s own service of those papers.

How long do I have to appeal if notice of entry was mailed?

You get thirty days plus the mail days under CPLR 2103(b)(2): five if it was mailed inside New York, for 35 days in total, or six if it was mailed from somewhere else in the United States.

Appellate intake that starts with the service date

Each New York appellate intake we take on begins with the affidavit of service rather than the entry date. We prepare the deadline memo above, draft the notice of appeal for your signature, and then work on the record and the brief under your supervision. See how our New York appellate drafting support works.

Authorities cited

CPLR 5513, 5514, 5515 and 5520 (most recent revision shown: September 22, 2014) and CPLR 2103 (December 25, 2015), read today on nysenate.gov; 5513 and 5514 were each read twice with matching results. General Construction Law 20 and 25-a, read on nysenate.gov. Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.104, read on courts.ca.gov. FRAP 4 and FRBP 8002, read on law.cornell.edu. CPLR 1022 and CRC 8.66 appear only as the rules above cite them. Left out because not verified today: which orders are appealable as of right, whether e-filing notifications count as service with notice of entry, how 5513(d) treats the serving party’s own mail days, and all case law. No case law is cited.

This article is for informational purposes only and is NOT legal advice. LegalBriefsUSA.com offers drafting and research support to licensed attorneys and law firms. It is written for attorneys, is not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.