Q: Is Summons on First Amended Complaint required, if Summons on original complaint was not issued yet?
If Federal Central District Court ordered to submit Amended Complaint, and summons was not issued yet:
is Summons on First Amended Complaint required?
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- Answered
A:
Yes, a summons is typically required with an amended complaint, even if a summons was not yet issued on the original complaint. Here are a few key points on this:
- Rule 4(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states that a summons must be issued for each defendant named in an initial complaint. This rule would apply to an amended complaint as well.
- An amended complaint adds to, clarifies, or changes the allegations in the original complaint. Even if new defendants are not named, it is still considered a new pleading that needs to be served on the existing defendants.
- Issuing and serving a summons is what gives the court jurisdiction over the defendants. Without proper service of process, the case can potentially be dismissed. So a summons needs to accompany an amended complaint.
- In some cases, a judge may instruct that an amended complaint can be served without a new summons if the original summons is still valid. But in most cases a new summons would be required and expected with an amended complaint, even if the original was not yet issued.
So unless the court specifically states otherwise, best practice is to issue and serve a summons along with an amended complaint, regardless of the status of the original summons.
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