A certificate of service identifies the document served, the parties served, the method and date of service, and is signed by the serving party or counsel. It is filed with or appended to the served document.
Electronic filing systems generate service automatically for registered parties.
Alternative Names:
Proof of Service, Certificate of Mailing
Why it Matters?
Service defects that a certificate would have revealed are among the more avoidable procedural failures, particularly where a party is not registered for electronic service and requires separate delivery. Pro se parties and recently added defendants are the recurring cases. The certificate also establishes the service date from which response deadlines run, which makes accuracy consequential rather than clerical.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Who requires separate service despite electronic filing?
Why does the service date matter?
