TITLE TWO — COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION; SERVICE OF PROCESS, PLEADINGS, MOTIONS AND ORDERS
Rule 5. Service and Filing of Pleadings and Other Papers
Service: When Required. Except as these rules otherwise provide, and unless the court on motion, with or without notice, or on its own initiative otherwise orders, each of the following shall be served on every party:
An order that by its terms requires service;
Every pleading subsequent to the original complaint;
Every paper relating to discovery that is required to be served on a party;
Every written motion, other than one that may be heard ex parte;
Every written notice, notice of change of attorney, notice of appearance, demand, brief or memorandum of law, offer of judgment, stipulation, designation of record, and similar paper; and
Every order, judgment, ruling, and decree of the court.
Service Effected by the Court. Service of every paper described in Rule 5(1) is effected by the court, through the electronic filing system, upon the clerk’s acceptance of the filing that carries the paper. No party is required, and no party shall be permitted, to satisfy the requirement of service under this rule by any separate transmission of the paper to another participant.
Same: The Filer Not Served. The filer is not served with the filer’s own filing. The filer receives instead a notice of the clerk’s decision, whether that decision is acceptance or rejection. A notice of decision is not service and does not constitute service on any person.
Service on a Represented Party. Where a party is represented by an attorney of record, service on that attorney is service on the party. Service on the party alone is not service unless the court has ordered service on the party.
Consent to Electronic Service. A person consents to service through the electronic filing system by entering an appearance in a case or by being made a party to a case. No further consent is required, and no separate consent shall be demanded of, or recorded for, a party who appears without an attorney. A party who appears without an attorney is served in the same manner and to the same effect as a party represented by an attorney.
Delivery Is Best-Effort. Notice given by the electronic filing system is best-effort. A failure of delivery, or a failure of a participant to receive, open, or read a notice:
Does not undo or impair the clerk’s acceptance of the filing;
Does not render the service ineffective; and
Does not excuse the recipient from any obligation or period arising from the paper served.
Filings Never Accepted Are Never Served. A filing that is tendered, or that is filed but never accepted, is not served on any person. A filing that is rejected is not served on any person. Service occurs at the moment the electronic filing system records the clerk’s acceptance, and at no other moment.
No Certificate of Service; No Receipt. No certificate of service, proof of service, or acknowledgment of receipt shall be required for a paper served under Rule 5(2). The electronic filing system records neither the delivery nor the reading of a notice, and no rule or order shall require a party to produce such a record. This subdivision does not affect the return of service of original process, which is governed by Rule 4.2.
Papers Served Otherwise Than Through the System. Where these rules or a statute require that a paper be served without being filed — as 7 R. Stat. § 132.303 requires of a motion for sanctions during the period there prescribed — service shall be made in the proceeding communications of the case, by delivery to the party or the attorney of record. The person effecting such service shall preserve evidence of it and shall produce that evidence on the court’s direction. Service so made is complete on delivery.
Service on a Party in Default. No service is required on a party who is in default for failure to appear, except that a pleading asserting a new claim for relief against such a party shall be served as original process is served under Rule 4.
Multiple Defendants. The court, on motion with or without notice or on its own initiative, may order that service of the pleadings of the defendants and replies thereto need not be made as between the defendants; that any cross-claim, counterclaim, or matter constituting an avoidance or affirmative defense contained therein shall be deemed denied or avoided by all other parties; and that the filing of any such pleading, and its acceptance and service on the plaintiff, constitutes due notice of it to all parties. A copy of every such order shall be served on the parties as the court directs.
Filing With the Court Defined. The filing of pleadings and other papers with the court, as these rules require or permit, is made through the electronic filing system, in the manner and at the times prescribed by Rule 5.1. No paper is filed by transmission in the proceeding communications, by direct message, by electronic mail, or by delivery to a judge, and no such transmission shall be treated as a filing, as service, or as part of the record.
Proceeding Communications. The proceeding communications of a case are the medium in which the proceedings of the case are conducted, in which testimony is taken, argument is heard, and objections are made and ruled upon. Announcements of case activity that reach the proceeding communications from the electronic filing system are informational only; they are neither service nor the record.
Papers Not to Be Filed. Deposition transcripts and recordings, interrogatories and answers, requests for production and responses, and requests for admission and responses shall not be filed until they are used in a proceeding or the court orders them filed. A filing made in violation of this subdivision is a ground for rejection under Rule 5.3.
Effect of Failure to File. If a party fails, within five days after serving a paper under Rule 5(10), to file that paper when this rule requires it to be filed, the court on its own initiative or on the motion of any party may order the paper filed forthwith; and if the order is not obeyed, the court may order the paper to be regarded as stricken and its service to be of no effect.
Information Required on Every Paper. On every pleading and other paper required or permitted by these rules to be filed there shall appear the name of the court, the county, the title of the action, the case number, the designation of the nature of the pleading or paper, and the username of the account holder filing it. Where the filing is made by an attorney, the paper shall further state the party for whom the attorney appears.
Same: Not Validated at Intake. The electronic filing system does not examine any paper for compliance with Rule 5(17) or with any other requirement of form. Non-compliance with Rule 5(17) is a ground for rejection by the clerk under Rule 5.3, in the clerk’s judgment, and is nothing more. Non-compliance neither prevents a paper from being filed nor, once the filing is accepted, impairs its validity or the service effected by its acceptance.