Revised: August 2011 Federal Pro Se Clinic CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA   What Do I Do if I Have Been Sued?  If you have been sued in federal court, you must file an official response to the complaint within 21 days. This means that you must file an official document (sometimes referred to as a “pleading”) directly with the court. A telephone call, e-mail or letter to either the court or the opposing party will not protect your rights. What if I was not served properly? Respond in Time – 21 Days! Your 21-day deadline starts running the day after you are served with the summons and complaint. Your official response is due to be filed, with the court, no later than the 21st day after service (counting weekends and holidays). If the 21st day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, your response is due to be filed no later than the next business day. If you need more than 21 days to respond, please see Local Rule 8.3 to find out how to request an extension of time. If the 21-day deadline has already passed, or if you cannot file a response or request an extension within the 21 days, you should at least file a “notice of appearance” with the court. The notice of appearance may prevent the court from entering a default against you for a period of time. A notice of appearance is not a substitute for filing an official response, which you should still file as quickly as possible. If you believe you were not served properly, you can raise that as a defense to the lawsuit by filing a motion to quash service. See Public Counsel’s “How to Submit a Motion” and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(5). As an alternative, you can file an answer and assert insufficient service of process as an affirmative defense. Either way, you should still make every attempt to respond to the complaint in a timely manner. If you need extra time to respond to the complaint, you should call the plaintiff’s attorney and try to work out an agreement whereby you agree to waive formal service in exchange for getting extra time to respond to the complaint (up File the Correct Response to 60 days). See Federal Rule of Civil There are two types of responses you can file. One type of response is called an “answer,” in which you answer each one of the paragraphs and allegations in the plaintiff’s complaint. In your answer, you are also required to assert any affirmative defenses that you believe apply to the facts of your case. how to do this. Procedure 4(d) for more information on NEVER IGNORE A LAWSUIT! You must file something with the court or the plaintiff may seek a default judgment against you. Federal Pro Se Clinic  U.S. Courthouse, 5th Floor  312 N. Spring St., Room 525  Los Angeles, CA 90012 Open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, by appointment only. Appointment requests taken at 9:30 a.m. First come, first served. THE FEDERAL PRO SE CLINIC IS A PROJECT OF PUBLIC COUNSEL, A NON-PROFIT PUBLIC INTEREST LAW FIRM. 1 Revised: August 2011 Another type of response is called a “responsive motion,” which you can file if you believe there is a legal reason you should not have to respond to the complaint. For example, you might want to file a motion to dismiss if the plaintiff in your case did not file the complaint within the applicable statute of limitations period. Prepare Your Response If you wish to file an answer, consult Public Counsel’s “How to File an Answer” guide. If you wish to file a responsive motion, refer to the following: (1) Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b) to see the types of defenses that you can raise in a responsive motion; and (2) Public Counsel's “How to File a Motion” guide. Also remember that the Local Rules for the Central District of California, which are available on the court’s website, require you to file a Certification and Notice of Interested Parties, Form CV-30 (also available for download from the court’s website), along with your notice of appearance, answer or first responsive motion. Raise Compulsory Counterclaims/Crossclaims Against Co-Defendants/Third Parties If you answer the complaint, you must include any compulsory counterclaims. Compulsory counterclaims are claims that you want to bring against the plaintiff that arise out of the same events as those alleged in the plaintiff’s complaint. Understanding when you must raise compulsory counterclaims is very important because you could lose your right to ever assert those claims if you do not raise them in a timely manner. Consult Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 13 for more information and see an attorney. To protect your rights, you may also need to bring a lawsuit against other people or entities – not just the plaintiff who started the lawsuit against you. Because raising these types of claims can be complicated, you should consult an attorney and also look at Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 13 and 14 for the rules on bringing crossclaims and third party claims. Federal Pro Se Clinic  U.S. Courthouse, 5th Floor  312 N. Spring St., Room 525  Los Angeles, CA 90012 Open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, by appointment only. Appointment requests taken at 9:30 a.m. First come, first served. THE FEDERAL PRO SE CLINIC IS A PROJECT OF PUBLIC COUNSEL, A NON-PROFIT PUBLIC INTEREST LAW FIRM. 2 1 ________________________(Full Name) 2 ________________________(Address Line 1) 3 ________________________(Address Line 2) 4 ________________________(Phone Number) 5 Defendant in Pro Per 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 ____________________________ Case No.: _______________________ 11 ____________________________ NOTICE OF APPEARANCE 12 13 Plaintiff(s), vs. 14 ____________________________ 15 ____________________________ 16 Defendant(s). 17 18 19 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Defendant ___________________________ 20 in the above-entitled action hereby appears in pro per, without waiving objections 21 to improper service, jurisdiction or venue, and requests that all further pleadings 22 and papers, exclusive of original service of process, be served on the Defendant at 23 the address stated above. 24 25 Dated:__________________ ____________________________ (Signature) 26 ____________________________ (Print Name) 27 Defendant in Pro Per 28 Revised: August 2011 Prepared by Public Counsel 1 PROOF OF SERVICE 2 3 4 I, ____________________________ (name), declare as follows. I am over the age of 18 years. My address is: 5 ______________________________________ 6 ______________________________________ 7 ______________________________________ 8 9 On ___________________ (date), I served the foregoing document described as: 10 NOTICE of APPEARANCE 11 12 on all interested parties in this action by placing a true and correct copy thereof in a 13 sealed envelope, with first-class postage prepaid thereon, and deposited said 14 envelope in the United States mail ____________________________, addressed 15 to: (place of mailing) 16 17 __________________________ (name) _______________________________________ (name) 18 __________________________ (address) _______________________________________ (address) 19 __________________________ (address) _______________________________________ (address) 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on ___________________ at ____________________________. (date) (place of signing) ____________________________ (signature) ____________________________ (name)