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amended complaint in federal court

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musze007

Junior Member
New York

Does an amended complaint need to be personally served, if the amendendment is within 20 days of the original complaint?

or can an amended complaint be mailed out once Defendant files an answer to the complaint?

southern district new york
 


W

Willlyjo

Guest
New York

Does an amended complaint need to be personally served, if the amendendment is within 20 days of the original complaint?

or can an amended complaint be mailed out once Defendant files an answer to the complaint?

southern district new york
The Plaintiff needs to serve a copy of the Amended Complaint on the Defendants Attorney. This can be done through the mail.
 

Tex78704

Member
Procedure for filing an amended complaint:
[B]http://www.nywd.uscourts.gov/document/AmendedComplaintInstructions.pdf[/B]


The Plaintiff needs to serve a copy of the Amended Complaint on the Defendants Attorney...
Problem with this is that the plaintiff does not generally know who the defendant's attorney is until an answer is served. And once an answer is served, the plaintiff will have to get the defendant to agree to an amended filing or petition the court for leave to file an amended complaint. So it is best for the plaintiff to file the amended complaint BEFORE an answer to the complaint is served.
 
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I think what he is asking is if he files an amended complaint, but does not indicate that he served the defendant with a copy of the amended complaint, is this considered sufficient service? Put another way... Let's say he filed an amended complaint before an answer to the original complaint was filed by the defense. (The Defense was served properly with the original complaint.) During this period, the Plaintiff files an amended complaint, but in the certificate of service, he does not indicate that he served the Defendant. Could the plaintiff successfully file for default judgment if the defendant thinks that because he was not served with a copy of the amended complaint, he does not have to make an appearance in this case or file an answer to the complaint, and can ignore it until he is properly served?
 
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I think what he is asking is if he files an amended complaint, but does not indicate that he served the defendant with a copy of the amended complaint, is this considered sufficient service? Put another way... Let's say he filed an amended complaint before an answer to the original complaint was filed by the defense. (The Defense was served properly with the original complaint.) During this period, the Plaintiff files an amended complaint, but in the certificate of service, he does not indicate that he served the Defendant. Could the plaintiff successfully file for default judgment if the defendant thinks that because he was not served with a copy of the amended complaint, he does not have to make an appearance in this case or file answer to the complaint, and can ignore it until he is properly served?
 

Philxxxx

Member
Procedure for filing an amended complaint:
[B]http://www.nywd.uscourts.gov/document/AmendedComplaintInstructions.pdf[/B]


Problem with this is that the plaintiff does not generally know who the defendant's attorney is until an answer is served. And once an answer is served, the plaintiff will have to get the defendant to agree to an amended filing or petition the court for leave to file an amended complaint. So it is best for the plaintiff to file the amended complaint BEFORE an answer to the complaint is served.
Usually before the answer if filed, an appearance will have been made ...
 
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Willlyjo

Guest
Procedure for filing an amended complaint:
[B]http://www.nywd.uscourts.gov/document/AmendedComplaintInstructions.pdf[/B]


Problem with this is that the plaintiff does not generally know who the defendant's attorney is until an answer is served. And once an answer is served, the plaintiff will have to get the defendant to agree to an amended filing or petition the court for leave to file an amended complaint. So it is best for the plaintiff to file the amended complaint BEFORE an answer to the complaint is served.
I totally agree with you that if a Complaint is Amended before service, it could then be served on the Defendant by a Process Server and that if amended after an answer is filed, leave to amend would be the normal procedure. If Plaintiff has to take leave to amend a Complaint then it can be served through the mail.
 

Philxxxx

Member
Please explain your reasoning for why this is "usually" the case...
Just my reviewing of case histories (some states have these filings online) .. most I see have appearances filed (quickly after being served) with the answer or extensions to answer a couple of weeks after the filing date.

So its just based on what I see..
 

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