1. eService Process Descriptions

2. COSCA/NACM Standards for Electronic Filing Processes Technical and Business Approaches Section 1.2A Court rules may provide that electronic transmission of a document through the electronic filing process to opposing counsel or parties who participate in the electronic filing process will satisfy the service requirements of court procedural rules. Such electronic filing processes will automatically create and docket a certificate of service for documents served electronically through the electronic filing process.

3. Other Standards and Commentary Functional standard 3.14.1 states that the court will provide “documents and notice to other parties,” in accordance with statutes and rules eService is provided at the time of filing, not at the time of acceptance of the filing into the court’s data base It is only a matter of time before electronic service of process is deemed sufficient to establish a court’s jurisdiction over a party

4. Categories of Service “Primary Service” refers to service of summonses, subpoenas and warrants that establish the court’s jurisdiction over the persons or entities served “Secondary Service” refers to service of documents filed or to be filed in court by a party, or documents created by the court, on all parties and interested persons entitled to notice of filings and activities

5. International Primary Service Practice Interestingly, many other nations require service to be performed by an officer of the court and will not honor US default judgments because of their reliance on service performed by persons other than court staff

6. Registries Some states maintain a central, statewide registry of persons opting to participate in electronic filing; those registries may, or may not, include userIDs, passwords, digital signatures, and IP addresses of participants. Individual courts may maintain such registries for their own eUsers. Courts using efiling vendors may rely on the vendor to maintain such registries. Courts and states that mandate use of efiling must still maintain a registry of eUsers. Some states and courts use digital signature certificate authorities – a different form of registry.

7. Interested Persons In many types of proceedings, court rules provide that “interested persons” may request copies of all filings, notices and orders in a case. The following process diagrams include such “interested persons” within the designation of “parties” because they are identified by the court’s case management information system and otherwise handled the same way as parties during the process

8. Parties/Lawyers In each of the processes descriptions, parties and their lawyers are treated as a single entity for purposes of simplification If a party is represented by counsel, all communications on the party’s behalf are conducted by the party’s lawyer If a party is not represented, all communications are conducted by the party.

9. eFiling Vendor The term “vendor” is used to refer to an eFiling vendor, traditionally called an Electronic Filing Service Provider The functions performed by a “vendor” in the course of electronic service are no different from those performed during routine two-way eFiling transactions

10. Court Filing Party Party B Party C Party D SECONDARY SERVICE PROCESS – PAPER Business Rules Certificate of service merely recites the method of service used, the date, and the address used for the recipient Certificate of Service recites that service has been effected on a specific date but without a specific time The serving lawyer merely recites the actions taken to send or deliver the document. No mention is required, nor made, concerning receipt of the served document Process Variation Lawyer may deliver a copy to the office of the opposing lawyer, in which case the opposing lawyer gets three fewer days within which to respond to the matter Subsequent Filing with Certificate of Service Paper copy, usually By Mail Paper copy, usually By Mail Paper copy, usually By Mail

11. Court Filing Party Party B Party C Party D 2 Notice of Filing 2 Notice of Filing COURT CONDUCTED eSERVICE PROCESS FOR SECONDARY SERVICE OF FILING BY A PARTY Business Rules Notice of Filing does not represent that filing has been accepted by court for filing Court will use party’s last known efiling address Party has obligation to inform court of change of efiling address Court provides filer with a list of parties who are not participating in the court’s electronic filing process so that filer can serve them through traditional means Court’s confidentiality requirements must be implemented Confirmation of receipt of notice of filing is not generally required, but could be at some level Process Variations Court may or may not include copy of filing with the notice If court does not include a copy of the filing with the notice, it must allow the party to access the document electronically in the court’s public access data base Some courts mirror the paper process by placing a copy of the filing in an electronic mailbox maintained on the court’s server, with parties having the responsibility to check its mailbox and retrieve filings The diagram includes an optional step of contacting an external repository for address or other information CMS 2 or 3 Certificate of Service 2 Acknowledgement of filing with notice of parties who must be served by filer 3 Receipt confirmation 3 Receipt confirmation 3 Receipt confirmation 1 Subsequent filing 2 Notice of Filing Registry 1b Request for information from registry 1b Registry response

12. Court Party A Party B Party C Party D 2 Notice of Filing 2 Notice of Filing COURT CONDUCTED eSERVICE PROCESS FOR SECONDARY SERVICE OF DOCUMENT CREATED BY THE COURT Business Rules Court will use party’s last known efiling address Party has obligation to inform court of change of efiling address Court provides paper service on parties who are not participating in the court’s electronic filing process so that filer can serve them through traditional means Court’s confidentiality requirements must be implemented Confirmation of receipt of notice of filing is not generally required, but could be at some level Process Variations Court may or may not include copy of filing with the notice If court does not include a copy of the filing with the notice, it must allow the party to access the document electronically in the court’s public access data base Some courts mirror the paper process by placing a copy of the filing in an electronic mailbox maintained on the court’s server, with parties having the responsibility to check its mailbox and retrieve filings A registry may be involved in this process CMS 2 or 3 Certificate of Service 3 Receipt confirmation 3 Receipt confirmation 3 Receipt confirmation 2 Notice of Filing 3 Receipt confirmation

13. Court Filing Party Party B Party C Party D Vendor 2 Notice of Filing 2 Notice of Filing COURT CONDUCTED eSERVICE PROCESS FOR SECONDARY SERVICE BY COURT THAT ACCEPTS FILINGS BY VENDORS ON BEHALF OF PARTIES Business Rules Notice of Filing does not represent that filing has been accepted by court for filing Court will use party’s last known efiling address Party has obligation to inform court of change of efiling address Court provides filer with a list of parties who are not participating in the court’s electronic filing process so that filer can serve them through traditional means Court’s confidentiality requirements must be implemented Confirmation of receipt of notice of filing is not generally required, but could be at some level Process Variations Court may or may not include copy of filing with the notice If court does not include a copy of the filing with the notice, it must allow the party to access the document electronically in the court’s public access data base A registry may be involved in this process CMS 2 or 3 Certificate of Service 2Acknowledgement of filing with notice of parties who must be served by filer 3 Receipt confirmation 3 Receipt confirmation 1 Subsequent filing 1 2 2 3 2

14. Court Filing Party Party B Party C Party D Vendor 1 Vendor 2 3 Notice of Filing 3 Notice of Filing VENDOR CONDUCTED eSERVICE PROCESS FOR SECONDARY SERVICE Business Rules Court uses Vendor 1 to perform all of its secondary service Court allows Vendor 2 to submit efilings on behalf of parties If vendor is the court’s exclusive efiling vendor, the vendor already has all efiling addresses If vendor is not the court’s exclusive efiling vendor, the court provides all efiling addresses Other business rules from Court Conducted eService Process also apply Process Variations Vendor may or may not include copy of filing with the notice If vendor does not include a copy of the filing with the notice, it must allow the party to access the document electronically in the vendor’s public access data base A registry may be involved in the process CMS 5 Certificate of Service 2Acknowledgement of filing 4 Receipt confirmation 1 Subsequent filing 1 3 3 2 Instructions from court to perform eService together with list of parties and their IP addresses, if any 5 Certificate of service 4 Receipt confirmation 2Acknowledgement of filing with notice of parties who must be served by filer

15. Court Submitting Party Party B Party C Party D Vendor 1 Document submission eSERVICE PROCESS FOR DOCUMENT DELIVERY THAT DOES NOT CONCERN THE COURT Business Rules Attorney desires to provide a copy of a document to another attorney or to the attorney’s client, either because it is required by court rule (e.g., compliance with discovery or disclosure require- ment) or for the attorney’s own convenience and cost savings It is not clear what level of receipt confirmation is possible or should be required Process Variation An attorney may delivery a document to another attorney or party directly or through the services of an efiling vendor A registry may be involved in the process 2 Receipt confirmation 1 1 1 Document submission

16. Court Filing Party Private Process Server Party B Law Enforcement PRIMARY SERVICE PROCESS – PAPER Business Rules Filing party chooses either law enforcement or a private process server to effect service, not both Person effecting service completes the return of service; the party served does not sign or otherwise participate in the completion of that document Subpoenas may be prepared by parties in most states but are served as shown Warrants are prepared by courts and provided directly by them to a law enforcement agency Process Variations If law enforcement or process server is unable to effect personal service, other alternatives, such as service by posting, by publication, or by special means may be pursued by the party These alternatives are prescribed by law in each state Some states provide for service by consent, in which case the served party prepares and files a document accepting service and waiving other formal service requirements 1 Initiating Filing 3 Paper copy, by mail or by hand 4 Summons and initiating filing delivered by hand 2 Summons prepared by court mailed to party or delivered by hand 3 Paper copy, by mail or by hand 4 Summons and initiating filing delivered by hand 5 Return of service prepared and filed by process server 5 Return of service prepared and filed by law enforcement officer 5 Courtesy copy to filing party 5 Courtesy copy to filing party

17. Court Filing Party Private Process Server Party B Law Enforcement PRIMARY SERVICE PROCESS – MIRRORING PAPER PROCESS BUT USING ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSON Business Rules Filing party chooses either law enforcement or a private process server to effect service, not both Person effecting service completes the return of service; the party served does not sign or otherwise participate in the completion of that document Subpoenas would follow steps 3, 4 and 5 Warrants would be provided electronically by the court directly to the law enforcement agency Process Variations If law enforcement or process server is unable to effect personal service, other alternatives, such as service by posting, by publication, or by special means may be pursued by the party. These alternatives are prescribed by law in each state. Some states provide for service by consent, in which case the served party prepares and files a document accepting service and waiving other formal service requirements A registry may be involved in this process 1 Initiating Filing efiled 3 Summons and initiating filing sent to process server electronically 4 Summons and initiating filing delivered by hand 2 Summons prepared by court and sent to party electronically 3 Summons and initiating filing sent to law enforcement electronically 4 Summons and initiating filing delivered by hand 5 Return of service prepared and filed electronically by process server 5 Return of service prepared and filed electronically by law enforcement officer 5 Courtesy copy to filing party sent electronically 5 Courtesy copy to filing party sent electronically

18. COURT CONDUCTED eSERVICE PROCESS FOR PRIMARY SERVICE OF SUMMONS Court Vendor Law Enforcement eProcess Server Filing Party 1 Initiating Pleading Party B Party D Party C 2 Summons and Initiating Pleading 2 Summons and Initiating Pleading 5 Electronic Return of Service 5 Electronic Return of Service 3 Personal service of printed documents 3 Personal service of printed documents 3 eService on registered agent of corporation or other state-authorized business entity Business Rules Filer designates process server as part of the process of filing the initiating pleading Court bears no responsibility for service of process, merely for providing documents electronically to the process server The requirements for step 4 have not been defined, although the ABA Section of Science and Technology Electronic Filing Committee is developing proposed requirements Process Variations Filer may effect service in traditional manner by hand delivering summons and initiating pleading to sheriff or private process server, who then files written or electronic return of service with the court Subpoenas could be served using the entire model, or could follow steps 3, 4, and 5 of the previous process Warrants would be served using the law enforcement component A registry may be involved in this process 2 Notice of issuance of summons 4 Electronic Confirmation 1 2