Q: I have a question regarding the 120-day time limit for service of summons and amended civil complaint.
I filed a civil complaint with the court on April 3, 2017, pro se. I have not yet served the summons, because I have been working on finalizing the amended complaint.
1) Is it permissible to serve both the initial complaint and the amended complaint using the same original summons, or must I serve them separately using 2 different summons?
2) My 120-day deadline for service ends on August 1, 2017. If I file the amended complaint with the court this week and deliver the original/amended/summons documents to the sheriff's office for service, will the court dismiss my complaint if notice of service is not filed by August 1? Or will the court first send me some type of notice? Or will the court see that the amended complaint was recently filed and allow more time for service?
3) Am I required to file a motion or take any action to ensure that my case is not dismissed?
Thank you for any helpful advice you are able to offer in this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Plaintiff
A:
You need to first filed the amended complaint, and file a motion to extend the deadline for service of process. Then once you get the extension then get a new summons and serve only the amended complaint.
OR, get the original summons and original complaint served before the deadline and then file the amended complaint. Once the defendant is served with the original complaint you have the right to amend the complaint without leave of court once.
Since you deadline is getting close to running I would serve the original summons ASAP then filed the amended complaint before they respond to the original complaint.
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