In addition to the complaint, you must serve the documents below (unless the defendant agrees to waive service; see section on waiver of service below).
1. Judge's Standing Orders
Your case will be randomly assigned to either a district judge or a magistrate judge. After you receive notice of the assigned judge's name, locate that judge on the Northern District of California's Judges webpage. Download the judge's relevant standing order(s).
2. Magistrate Judge Information
Download the Notice of Availability of Magistrate Judge (if your case was assigned to a district judge) or the Notice of Assignment to Magistrate Judge with Election Form (if your case was assigned to a magistrate judge).
3. Information on electronic filing in this court
Download this Court's ECF Registration Information.
Waiver of Service of Summons
You may ask the opposing party to waive formal service of the summons. Instead of being personally served, the defendant may agree to receive the complaint by mail. See Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(d).
To request a waiver, send the following two documents to the defendant by first-class or certified mail (along with the complaint and other documents listed above), as well as a prepaid method for the defendant to return the signed waiver form: