California Procedures
Chapter 1
Appearance by the Plaintiff
First Read:
• Substantive Companion ("Companion") Ch. 5, 7
• Litigation By The Numbers ("LBTN") Ch. 1 ;
Introduction
This chapter discusses the various procedures required to commence the lawsuit, give the defendant notice of the lawsuit, and let the court know how and when the defendant was given notice. The basic steps are:
• Preparing the complaint in accordance with strict formatting rules
• Preparing the documents that must accompany the complaint
• Assembling the documents and submitting them in the proper form to the court clerk for filing, whether electronically (eFiling) or physically (hard copies)
• Paying the applicable filing fee
• Serving the defendant with conformed copies of the summons, complaint, and accompanying forms (service of process)
• Filing with the court the appropriate proof that service of process was completed.
Everything must be done in accordance with the applicable rules and codes, which contain strict format, procedure, and time requirements.