Local Rule 4.1: Service of Process
N.D.N.Y. — Civil rule
4.1 Service of Process (Amended January 1, 2018).
(a) Service shall be made in the manner specified in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or as required or permitted by statute. The party seeking service of papers shall be responsible for arranging the service. The Clerk is authorized to sign orders appointing persons to serve process.
(b) Upon the filing of a complaint, the Clerk shall issue to the plaintiff General Order 25 which requires, among other things, service of process upon all defendants within sixty (60) days of the filing of the complaint. This expedited service requirement is necessary to ensure adequate time for pretrial discovery and motion practice. In no event shall service of process be completed after the time specified in Fed. R. Civ. P. 4.
(c) At the time the complaint or notice of removal is served, the party seeking to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court shall also serve on all parties the following materials:
1. Judicial Case Assignment Form;
2. Joint Civil Case Management Plan Containing Notice of Initial Pretrial Conference;
3. Notice and Consent Form to Proceed Before a United States Magistrate Judge.
The Clerk shall furnish these materials to the party seeking to invoke the jurisdiction of the Court at the time the complaint or notice of removal is filed.
(d) See L.R. 72.4(e).
(e) In cases where an acknowledgment of service by a defendant located within any judicial district of the United States has been properly requested, whether pursuant to Rule 4(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or pursuant to N.Y. Civil Practice Law and Rules § 312-a, the defendant shall have sixty days from the date the waiver request was sent to the defendant to answer or file a motion to dismiss plaintiff's complaint.
(f) If a defendant located within the United States fails, without good cause, to sign and return a waiver requested by plaintiff within the United States, that defendant may be required to pay the expenses incurred by serving the summons and complaint in any other manner permitted by law.