Rule 5 — Serving and Filing Pleadings and Other Papers

Fed. R. Civ. P. 5

• Source: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
• Rule: 5
• TITLE II: COMMENCING AN ACTION; SERVICE OF PROCESS,
• Citation: Fed. R. Civ. P. 5

Text

(a) SERVICE: WHENREQUIRED.
(1) In General. Unless these rules provide otherwise, each of
the following papers must be served on every party:
(A) an order stating that service is required;
(B) a pleading filed after the original complaint, unless
the court orders otherwise under Rule 5(c) because there
are numerous defendants;
(C) a discovery paper required to be served on a party,
unless the court orders otherwise;
(D) a written motion, except one that may be heard ex
parte; and

(E) a written notice, appearance, demand, or offer of
judgment, or any similar paper.
(2) If a Party Fails to Appear. No service is required on a
party who is in default for failing to appear. But a pleading
that asserts a new claim for relief against such a party must
be served on that party under Rule 4.
(3) Seizing Property. If an action is begun by seizing property
and no person is or need be named as a defendant, any service
required before the filing of an appearance, answer, or claim
must be made on the person who had custody or possession of
the property when it was seized.
(b) SERVICE: HOWMADE.
(1) Serving an Attorney. If a party is represented by an attor-
ney, service under this rule must be made on the attorney un-
less the court orders service on the party.
(2) Service in General. A paper is served under this rule by:
(A) handing it to the person;
(B) leaving it:
(i) at the person’s office with a clerk or other person
in charge or, if no one is in charge, in a conspicuous
place in the office; or
(ii) if the person has no office or the office is closed,
at the person’s dwelling or usual place of abode with
someone of suitable age and discretion who resides
there;
(C) mailing it to the person’s last known address—in
which event service is complete upon mailing;
(D) leaving it with the court clerk if the person has no
known address;
(E) sending it to a registered user by filing it with the
court’s electronic-filing system or sending it by other elec-
tronic means that the person consented to in writing—in
either of which events service is complete upon filing or
sending, but is not effective if the filer or sender learns
that it did not reach the person to be served; or
(F) delivering it by any other means that the person con-
sented to in writing—in which event service is complete
when the person making service delivers it to the agency
designated to make delivery.
(3) Using Court Facilities. [Abrogated (Apr. 26, 2018, eff. Dec.
1, 2018.)]
(c) SERVINGNUMEROUSDEFENDANTS.
(1) In General. If an action involves an unusually large num-
ber of defendants, the court may, on motion or on its own,
order that:
(A) defendants’ pleadings and replies to them need not be
served on other defendants;
(B) any crossclaim, counterclaim, avoidance, or affirma-
tive defense in those pleadings and replies to them will be
treated as denied or avoided by all other parties; and
(C) filing any such pleading and serving it on the plain-
tiff constitutes notice of the pleading to all parties.
(2) Notifying Parties. A copy of every such order must be
served on the parties as the court directs.

(d) FILING.
(1) Required Filings; Certificate of Service.
(A) Papers after the Complaint. Any paper after the com-
plaint that is required to be served must be filed no later
than 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: depositions, interrog-
atories, requests for documents or tangible things or to
permit entry onto land, and requests for admission.
(B) Certificate of Service. No certificate of service is re-
quired when a paper is served by filing it with the court’s
electronic-filing system. When a paper that is required to
be served is served by other means:
(i) if the paper is filed, a certificate of service must
be filed with it or within a reasonable time after serv-
ice; and
(ii) if the paper is not filed, a certificate of service
need not be filed unless filing is required by court
order or by local rule.
(2) Nonelectronic Filing. A paper not filed electronically is
filed by delivering it:
(A) to the clerk; or
(B) to a judge who agrees to accept it for filing, and who
must then note the filing date on the paper and promptly
send it to the clerk.
(3) Electronic Filing and Signing.
(A) By a Represented Person—Generally Required; Excep-
tions. A person represented by an attorney must file elec-
tronically, unless nonelectronic filing is allowed by the
court for good cause or is allowed or required by local rule.
(B) By an Unrepresented Person—When Allowed or Re-
quired. A person not represented by an attorney:
(i) may file electronically only if allowed by court
order or by local rule; and
(ii) may be required to file electronically only by
court order, or by a local rule that includes reasonable
exceptions.
(C) Signing. A filing made through a person’s electronic-
filing account and authorized by that person, together
with that person’s name on a signature block, constitutes
the person’s signature.
(D) Same as a Written Paper. A paper filed electronically
is a written paper for purposes of these rules.
(4) Acceptance by the Clerk. The clerk must not refuse to file
a paper solely because it is not in the form prescribed by these
rules or by a local rule or practice.

Advisory Committee Notes

(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; Apr. 12, 2006, eff. Dec. 1, 2006; Apr. 30, 2007, eff. Dec. 1, 2007; Apr. 26, 2018, eff. Dec. 1, 2018.)