Pleadings and parties
Getting the complaint filed, served and amended, and getting yourself into or out of the case.
The sequence
- Day 0Complaint filedThe three-year service clock and the five-year trial clock both start here.
- +60 daysProof of service dueLate proof is not fatal. Late service is.
- On serviceResponsive pleading dueThirty days, and a demurrer buys the automatic extension only if you meet and confer.
- Pre-answerOne amendment as of rightOne per case, not one per pleading, and the window shuts on the first responsive filing.
- 3 yearsService deadlineDismissal is mandatory. Diligence has to be documented as you go, not reconstructed after.
This sequence is the shape of the stage, not a calculator. Dates come from calcourtdeadlines.com.
Guides in this stage4
- What a demurrer can and cannot reachThe face of the pleading, plus judicially noticeable matter, and nothing else. The declaration attached to the demurrer is not evidence of anything.
- Amending a complaint: filing it vs needing leaveOne free amendment, three windows, and an unresolved split over whether one co-defendant's answer closes the door on everyone.
- Serving a defendant you cannot find3 years from filing and the dismissal is mandatory. Reasonable diligence, the entity shortcut that needs none, the Secretary of State order, and why publication is the last thing to ask for.
- Substituting into a case before trialThe duties start at the fee agreement. The standing starts at the filing. What you inherit: a firm trial date, closed discovery, a five-year clock, and a lien nobody has to tell you about.