WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
Table of Contents
Rule 3. Commencement of Action
Rule
4.1. Service of Other Process
Rule
5. Service and Filing of Pleadings And Other Papers
Rule 6.
Time
Rule 3. Commencement of Action
A
civil action is commenced by filing a complaint with the court.
Rule 4. Summons
FORM. The summons shall be signed by the clerk, bear
the seal of the court, identify the court and the parties, be directed to
the defendant, and state the name and address of the plaintiffs attorney or,
if unrepresented, of the plaintiff. It shall also state the time within which
the defendant must appear and defend, and notify the defendant that failure to
do so will result in a judgment by default against the defendant for the relief
demanded in the complaint. The court may allow a summons to be amended.
ISSUANCE. Upon
or after filing the complaint, the plaintiff may present a summons to the clerk
for signature and seal. If the summons is in proper form, the clerk shall sign,
seal, and issue it to the plaintiff for service on the defendant. A summons, or
a copy of the summons if addressed to multiple defendants, shall be issued for
each defendant to be served.
SERVICE WITH COMPLAINT; BY WHOM
MADE.
(1)
A summons shall be served
together with a copy of the complaint. The plaintiff is responsible for service
of a summons and complaint within the time allowed under subdivision (m) and
shall furnish the person effecting service with the necessary copies of the
summons and complaint.
(2)
Service may be effected by any
person who is not a party and who is at least 18 years of age. At the request
of the plaintiff, however, the court may direct that service be effected by a
United States marshal, deputy United States marshal, or other person or officer
specially appointed by the court for that purpose. Such an appointment must be
made when the plaintiff is authorized to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 1915 or is authorized to proceed as a seaman under 28 U.S.C. §
1916.
WAIVER OF SERVICE; DUTY TO SAVE COSTS OF
SERVICE; REQUEST TO WAIVE.
(3)
A defendant who waives service
of a summons does not thereby waive any objection to the venue or to the
jurisdiction of the court over the person of the defendant.
(4)
An individual, corporation, or
association that is subject to service under subdivision (e), (f), or (h) and
that receives notice of an action in the manner provided in this paragraph has
a duty to avoid unnecessary costs of serving the summons. To avoid costs, the
plaintiff may notify such a defendant of the commencement of the action and
request that the defendant waive service of a summons. The notice and request
(A) shall be in writing and shall be addressed directly to the defendant, if an
individual, or else to an officer or managing or general agent (or other agent
authorized by appointment or law to receive service of process) of a defendant
subject to service under subdivision (h); (B) shall be dispatched through first-class
mail or other reliable means; (C) shall be accompanied by a copy of the
complaint and shall identify the court in which it has been filed; (D) shall
inform the defendant, by means of a text prescribed in an official form
promulgated pursuant to Rule 84, of the consequences of compliance and of a
failure to comply with the request; (E) shall set forth the date on which the
request is sent; (F) shall allow the defendant a reasonable time to return the
waiver, which shall be at least 30 days from the date on which the request is
sent, or 60 days from that date if the defendant is addressed outside any
judicial district of the United States; and (G) shall provide the defendant
with an extra copy of the notice and request, as well as a prepaid means of
compliance in writing. If a defendant located within the United States fails to
comply with a request for waiver made by a plaintiff located within the United
States, the court shall impose the costs subsequently incurred in effecting
service on the defendant unless good cause for the failure be shown.
(5)
A defendant that, before being
served with process, timely returns a waiver so requested is not required to
serve an answer to the complaint until 60 days after the date on which there
quest for waiver of service was sent, or 90 days after that date if the
defendant was addressed outside any judicial district of the United States.
(6)
When the plaintiff files a
waiver of service with the court, the action shall proceed, except as provided
in paragraph (3), as if a summons and complaint had been served at the time of
filing the waiver, and no proof of service shall be required.
(7)
The costs to be imposed on a
defendant under paragraph (2) for failure to comply with a request to waive
service of a summons shall include the costs subsequently incurred in effecting
service under subdivision (e), (f), or (h), together with the costs, including
a reasonable attorneys fee, of any motion required to collect the costs of
service.
SERVICE UPON INDIVIDUALS WITHIN A
JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF THE UNITED STATES.
Unless otherwise provided by
federal law, service upon an individual from whom a waiver has not been
obtained and filed, other than an infant or an incompetent person, may be
effected in any judicial district of the United States: (1) pursuant to the law
of the state in which the district court is located, or in which service is
effected, for the service of a summons upon the defendant in an action brought
in the courts of general jurisdiction of the State; or (2) by delivering a copy
of the summons and of the complaint to the individual personally or by leaving
copies thereof at the individuals dwelling house or usual place of abode with
some person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein or by
delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to an agent authorized by
appointment or by law to receive service of process.
SERVICE UPON INDIVIDUALS IN A
FOREIGN COUNTRY.
Unless otherwise provided by
federal law, service upon an individual from whom a waiver has not been
obtained and filed, other than an infant or an incompetent person, may be
effected in a place not within any judicial district of the United States: (1)
by any internationally agreed means reasonably calculated to give notice, such
as those means authorized by the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of
Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents; or (2) if there is no internationally
agreed means of service or the applicable international agreement allows other
means of service, provided that service is reasonably calculated to give
notice:
(A) in the manner prescribed by the law of the foreign
country for service in that country in an action in any of its courts of
general jurisdiction; or
(B) as directed by the foreign authority in response
to a letter rogatory or letter of request; or
(C) unless prohibited by the law of the foreign
country, by
(i)
delivery to the individual
personally of a copy of the summons and the complaint; or
(ii)
any form of mail requiring a
signed receipt, to be addressed and dispatched by the clerk of the court to the
party to be served; or
(iii)
by other means not prohibited
by international agreement as may be directed by the court.
SERVICE UPON INFANTS AND INCOMPETENT
PERSONS.
Service upon an infant or an
incompetent person in a judicial district of the United States shall be
effected in the manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the service
is made for the service of summons or other like process upon any such
defendant in an action brought in the courts of general jurisdiction of that
state. Service upon an infant or an incompetent person in a place not within
any judicial district of the United States shall be effected in the manner
prescribed by paragraph (2)(A) or (2)(B) of subdivision (f) or by such means as
the court may direct.
SERVICE UPON CORPORATIONS AND
ASSOCIATIONS.
Unless otherwise provided by
federal law, service upon a domestic or foreign corporation or upon a
partnership or other unincorporated association that is subject to suit under a
common name, and from which a waiver of service has not been obtained and
filed, shall be effected:
(8)
in a judicial district of the
United States in the manner prescribed for individuals by subdivision (e)(1),
or by delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to an officer, a
managing or general agent, or to any other agent authorized by appointment or
by law to receive service of process and, if the agent is one authorized by
statute to receive service and the statute so requires, by also mailing a copy
to the defendant, or
(9)
in a place not within any
judicial district of the United States in any manner prescribed for individuals
by subdivision (f) except personal delivery as provided in paragraph (2)(C)(i)
thereof.
SERVING THE UNITED STATES, ITS AGENCIES,
CORPORATIONS, OFFICERS, OR EMPLOYEES.
Service upon the United States
shall be effected by delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to
the United States attorney for the district in which the action is brought or
to an assistant United
- States attorney or clerical employee
designated by the United States attorney in a writing filed with the clerk
of the court or by sending a copy of the summons and of the complaint by
registered or certified mail addressed to the civil process clerk at the
office of the United States attorney and (B) by also sending a copy of the
summons and of the complaint by registered or certified mail to the
Attorney
- General of the United States at Washington,
District of Columbia, and (C) in any action attacking the validity of an
order of an officer or agency of the United States not made a party, by
also sending a copy of the summons and of the complaint by registered or
certified mail to the officer or agency.
- (2)(A) Service on an agency or corporation of
the United States, or an officer or employee of the United States sued
only in an official capacity, is effected by serving the United States in
the manner prescribed by Rule 4(i)(1) and by also sending a copy of the
summons and complaint by registered or certified mail to the officer,
employee, agency, or corporation.
(A)
Service on an officer or
employee of the United States sued in an individual capacity for acts or
omissions occurring in connection with the performance of duties on behalf of
the United Stateswhether or not the officer or employee is sued also in an
official capacityis effected by serving the United States in the manner
prescribed by Rule 4(i)(1) and by serving the officer or employee in the manner
prescribed by Rule 4(e), (f), or (g). The court shall allow a reasonable time
to serve process under Rule 4(i) for
the purpose of curing the failure to serve: all persons required to be served
in an action governed by Rule 4(i)(2)(A), if the plaintiff has served either
the United States attorney or the Attorney General of the United States, or (B)
the United States in an action governed by Rule 4(i)(2)(B), if the plaintiff
has served an officer or employee of the United States sued in an individual
capacity.
SERVICE UPON FOREIGN, STATE, OR LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS.
(10)
Service upon a foreign state
or a political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof shall be
effected pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1608.
(11)
Service upon a state,
municipal corporation, or other governmental organization subject to suit shall
be effected by delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to its
chief executive officer or by serving the summons and complaint in the manner
prescribed by the law of that state for the service of summons or other like
process upon any such defendant.
TERRITORIAL LIMITS OF EFFECTIVE
SERVICE.
(12)
Service of a summons or filing
a waiver of service is effective to establish jurisdiction over the person of a
defendant (A) who could be subjected to the jurisdiction of a court of general
jurisdiction in the state in which the district court is located, or (B) who is
a party joined under Rule 14 or Rule 19 and is served at a place within a
judicial district of the United States and not more than 100 miles from the
place from which the summons issues, or (C) who is subject to the federal
interpleader jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1335, or (D) when authorized by a
statute of the United States.
(13)
If the exercise of
jurisdiction is consistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States,
serving a summons or filing a waiver of service is also effective, with respect
to claims arising under federal law, to establish personal jurisdiction over
the person of any defendant who is not subject to the jurisdiction of the
courts of general jurisdiction of any state.
PROOF OF SERVICE.
If service is not waived, the
person effecting service shall make proof thereof to the court. If service is
made by a person other than a United States marshal or deputy United States
marshal, the person shall make affidavit thereof. Proof of service in a place not within any judicial district of
the United States shall, if effected under paragraph (1) of subdivision (f), be
made pursuant to the applicable treaty or convention, and shall, if effected
under paragraph (2) or (3) thereof, include a receipt signed by the addressee
or other evidence of delivery to the addressee satisfactory to the court.
Failure to make proof of service does not affect the validity of the service.
The court may allow proof of service to be amended.
TIME LIMIT FOR SERVICE.
If service of the summons and
complaint is not made upon a defendant within 120 days after the filing of the
complaint, the court, upon motion or on its own initiative after notice to the
plaintiff, shall dismiss the action without prejudice as to that defendant or
direct that service be effected within a specified time; provided that if the
plaintiff shows good cause for the failure, the court shall extend the time for
service for an appropriate period. This subdivision does not apply to service in
a foreign country pursuant to subdivision (f) or (j)(1).
SEIZURE OF PROPERTY; SERVICE OF SUMMONS
NOT FEASIBLE.
1. If a statute of the United States so provides, the
court may assert jurisdiction over property. Notice to claimants of the property
shall then be sent in the manner provided by the statute or by service of a
summons under this rule.
2. Upon a showing that personal jurisdiction over a
defendant cannot, in the district where the action is brought, be obtained with
reasonable efforts by service of summons in any manner authorized by this rule,
the court may assert jurisdiction over any of the defendants assets found
within the district by seizing the assets under the circumstances and in the
manner provided by the law of the state in which the district court is located.
(As amended Jan. 21, 1963, eff. July 1, 1963; Feb. 28, 1966, eff. July 1, 1966;
Apr. 29, 1980, eff. Aug. 1, 1980; Jan. 12, 1983, eff. Feb. 26, 1983; Mar. 2,
1987, eff. Aug. 1, 1987; Apr. 22, 1993, eff. Dec. 1, 1993; Apr. 17, 2000, eff.
Dec. 1, 2000.)
Rule 4.1. Service of Other Process
(a) GENERALLY.
Process other than a summons as provided in
Rule
4 or subpoena as provided in Rule 45 shall be served by a
United
States marshal, a deputy United States marshal, or a person specially appointed
for that purpose, who shall make proof of service as provided in Rule 4(l). The
process may be served anywhere within the territorial limits of the state in
which the district court is located, and, when authorized by a statute of the
United States, beyond the territorial limits of that state.
(b) ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS: COMMITMENT FOR CIVIL CONTEMPT.
An
order of civil commitment of a person held to be in contempt of a decree or
injunction issued to enforce the laws of the United
States
maybe served and enforced in any district. Other orders in civil contempt
proceedings shall be served in the state in which the court issuing the order
to be enforced is located or elsewhere within the United States if not more
than 100 miles from the place at which the order to be enforced was issued.
(As
added Apr. 22, 1993, eff. Dec. 1, 1993.)
Rule 5. Service and Filing of Pleadings and
Other Papers
SERVICE:
WHEN REQUIRED. Except as otherwise provided
in these rules, every order required by its terms to be served, every pleading
subsequent to the original complaint unless the court otherwise orders because
of numerous defendants, every paper relating to discovery required to be served
upon a party unless the court otherwise orders, every written motion other than
one which may be heard ex parte, and every written notice, appearance, demand,
offer of judgment, designation of record on appeal, and similar paper shall be
served upon each of the parties. No service need be made on parties in default
for failure to appear except that pleadings asserting new or additional claims
for relief against them shall be served upon them in the manner provided for
service of summons in Rule 4. In an
action begun by seizure of property, in which no person need be or is named as
defendant, any service required to be made prior to the filing of an answer,
claim, or appearance shall be made upon the person having custody or possession
of the property at the time of its seizure.
MAKING SERVICE.
(1)
Service under Rules 5(a) and
77(d) on a party represented by an attorney is made on the attorney unless the
court orders service on the party.
(2)
Service under Rule 5(a) is
made by: (A) Delivering a copy to the person served by:
(i)
handing it to the person;
(ii)
leaving it at the persons
office with a clerk or other person in charge, or if no one is in charge
leaving it in a conspicuous place in the office; or
(iii)
if the person has no office or
the office is closed, leaving it at the persons dwelling house or usual place
of abode with someone of suitable age and discretion residing there.
(A)
Mailing a copy to the last
known address of the person served. Service by mail is complete on mailing.
(B)
If the person served has no
known address, leaving a copy with the clerk of the court.
(C)
Delivering a copy by any other
means, including electronic means, consented to in writing by the person
served. Service by electronic means is complete on transmission; service by
other consented means is complete when the person making service delivers the
copy to the agency designated to make delivery. If authorized by local rule, a
party may make service under this subparagraph (D) through the courts
transmission facilities. (3) Service by electronic means under Rule 5(b)(2)(D)
is not effective if the party making service learns that the attempted service
did not reach the person to be served.
(c) SAME: NUMEROUS
DEFENDANTS. In any action in which there are unusually large
numbers of defendants, the court, upon motion or of its own initiative, may
order that service of the pleadings of the defendants and replies thereto need
not be made as between the defendants and that any cross-claim, counterclaim,
or matter constituting an avoidance or affirmative defense contained therein
shall be deemed to be denied or avoided by all other parties and that the
filing of any such pleading and service thereof upon the plaintiff constitutes
due notice of it to the parties. A copy of every such order shall be served
upon the parties in such manner and form as the court directs.
- (d) FILING;
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE. All papers after the complaint required to
be served upon a party, together with a certificate of service, must be
filed with the court within a reasonable time after service, but
disclosures under Rule 26(a)(1) or (2) and the following discovery
requests and responses must not be filed until they are used in the
proceeding or the court orders filing: (i) depositions, (ii)
interrogatories, (iii) requests for documents or to permit entry upon
land, and (iv) requests for admission.
- (e) FILING WITH THE COURT DEFINED.
- The filing of
papers with the court as required by these rules shall be made by filing
them with the clerk of court, except that the judge may permit the papers
to be filed with the judge, in which event the judge shall note thereon
the filing date and forthwith transmit them to the office of the clerk. A
court may by local rule permit papers to be filed, signed, or verified by
electronic means that are consistent with technical standards, if any,
that the Judicial Conference of the United States establishes. A paper
filed by electronic means in compliance with a local rule constitutes a
written paper for the purpose of applying these rules. The clerk shall not
refuse to accept for filing any paper presented for that purpose solely
because it is not presented in proper form as required by these rules or
any local rules or practices. (As amended Jan. 21, 1963, eff. July 1,
1963; Mar. 30, 1970, eff. July 1, 1970; Apr. 29, 1980, eff. Aug. 1, 1980;
Mar. 2, 1987, eff. Aug. 1, 1987; Apr. 30, 1991, eff. Dec. 1, 1991; Apr.
22, 1993, eff. Dec. 1, 1993; Apr. 23, 1996, eff. Dec. 1, 1996; Apr. 17,
2000, eff. Dec. 1, 2000; Apr. 23, 2001, eff. Dec. 1, 2001.)
Rule 6. Time
(a) COMPUTATION. In
computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by these rules, by the local
rules of any district court, by order of court, or by any applicable statute,
the day of the act, event, or default from which the designated period of time
begins to run shall not be included. The last day of the period so computed
shall be included, unless it is a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday, or,
when the act to be done is the filing of a paper in court, a day on which
weather or other conditions have made the office of the clerk of the district
court inaccessible, in which event the period runs until the end of the next
day which is not one of the aforementioned days. When the period of time
prescribed or allowed is less than 11 days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays,
and legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation. As used in this rule
and in Rule 77(c), legal holiday includes New Years Day, Birthday of
Martin Luther King, Jr., Washingtons Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day,
Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and any
other day appointed as a holiday by the President or the Congress of the United
States, or by the state in which the district court is held.
(b) ENLARGEMENT.
When by these rules or by a notice given
thereunder
or by order of court an act is required or allowed to be done at or within a
specified time, the court for cause shown may at any time in its discretion (1)
with or without motion or notice order the period enlarged if request therefor
is made before the expiration of the period originally prescribed or as
extended by a previous order, or (2) upon motion made after the expiration of
the specified period permit the act to be done where the failure to act was the result of excusable neglect; but it
may not extend the time for taking any action under Rules 50(b) and (c)(2),
52(b), 59(b), (d) and (e), and 60(b), except to the extent and under the
conditions
stated
in them.
[(c)
UNAFFECTED BY EXPIRATION OF TERM.] (Rescinded Feb. 28,
1966,
eff. July 1, 1966)
(d) FOR MOTIONSAFFIDAVITS. A
written motion, other than one which may be heard ex parte, and notice of the
hearing thereof shall be served not later than 5 days before the time specified
for the hearing, unless a different period is fixed by these rules or by order
of the court. Such an order may for cause shown be made on ex parte
application. When a motion is supported by affidavit, the affidavit shall be
served with the motion; and, except as otherwise provided in Rule 59(c),
opposing affidavits may be served not later than 1 day before the hearing,
unless the court permits them to be served at some other time.
(e) ADDITIONAL TIME AFTER SERVICE UNDER RULE 5(b)(2)(B),
(C), OR (D).
Whenever a party has the right or is required to do some act or take some
proceedings within a prescribed period after the service of a notice or other
paper upon the party and the notice or paper is served upon the party under
Rule 5(b)(2)(B), (C), or (D), 3 days shall be added to the prescribed period.
(As
amended Dec. 27, 1946, eff. Mar. 19, 1948; Jan. 21, 1963, eff. July 1, 1963;
Feb. 28, 1966, eff. July 1, 1966; Dec. 4, 1967, eff. July 1, 1968; Mar. 1,
1971, eff. July 1, 1971; Apr. 28, 1983, eff. Aug. 1, 1983; Apr. 29, 1985, eff.
Aug. 1, 1985; Mar. 2, 1987, eff. Aug. 1, 1987; Apr. 26, 1999, eff. Dec. 1,
1999; Apr. 23, 2001, eff. Dec. 1, 2001.)
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