CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA IMPORTANT INFORMATION - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING A CIVIL ACTION BY A NON-PRISONER __________________________________________________________________________________________ INSTRUCTIONS AND PROCEDURES 1. CIVIL COMPLAINT - You must file a "Civil Complaint" in the form and manner as set forth in Local Rule 11 of this Court. Any complaint in any other form will not be accepted by the Clerk's Office. The complaint must be prepared by you. This office does not have any standard forms for this purpose. The complaint must also be accompanied by a: A. B. C. Summons - AO-440 (Original plus two copies) Civil Cover Sheet - CV-71 (Original plus two copies) Certification and Notice of Interested Parties - CV-30 (Original plus three copies) These three forms are available in the Clerk's Office. They must be completed in full. Each original document filed in this Court must also be accompanied by a clear and legible copy of the document filed. Both the original and copy must be blue-backed. 2. 3. FILING FEE - The filing fee for a civil complaint is $400.00. Personal checks are NOT accepted. FILING IN FORMA PAUPERIS - If you are unable to pay the filing fee, you may petition the Court to allow you to file your complaint without the prepayment of the filing fee. Forms for your use are available in the Clerk's Office. These forms must also accompany the complaint. REQUEST FOR APPOINTMENT OF AN ATTORNEY - A request for appointment of an attorney must be prepared by you in the form and manner set forth in Local Rule 11. A request in any other form will not be accepted. The request must accompany the complaint and be presented as a separate document. Your request must also state the reasons why you want the Court to appoint an attorney for you. OTHER INFORMATION PLEASE DO NOT seek the assistance of an employee of this office to help you in this matter. Title 28 U.S.C. 955 prohibits members of this office from providing any type of legal advice. In the event the Court denies your request for the appointment of any attorney and you find yourself acting as your own attorney, you must comply with all Local Rules of this Court. Copies of the Local Rules are available in any law library or from this Court's website at: www.cacd.uscourts.gov/court-procedures/local-rules. Pertinent parts of Local Rules 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 15, 16, 19, 26, 38, 41, 56, and 83, as well as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(i)(1), are attached for your information and convenience. Also attached is a list of lawyer referral services. 4. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CV-58 (12/2015) INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING A CIVIL ACTION BY A NON-PRISONER Page 1 of 18 American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com F.R.CIV.P. 4 SUMMONS (i) Serving the United States and Its Agencies, Corporations, Officers, or Employees. (1) United States. To serve the United States, a party must: (A)(i) deliver a copy of the summons and of the complaint to the United States attorney for the district where the action is brought--or to an assistant United States attorney or clerical employee whom the United States attorney designates in a writing filed with the court clerk--or (ii) send a copy of each by registered or certified mail to the civil-process clerk at the United States attorney's office; (B) send a copy of each by registered or certified mail to the Attorney General of the United States at Washington, D.C.; and if the action challenges an order of a non-party agency or officer of the United States, send a copy of each by registered or certified mail to the agency or officer. __________________________________________________________________________________________ (C) LOCAL RULES OF THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (EXCERPTS) F.R.Civ.P. 3. COMMENCING AN ACTION L.R. 3-1 Civil Cover Sheet and Other Forms Required at the Time of Filing a New Action. All civil actions presented to the Clerk for filing must be accompanied by a Civil Cover Sheet (Form CV-071) completed and signed by the attorney or party presenting the matter. In all cases where jurisdiction is invoked in whole or in part under 28 U.S.C. § 1338 (regarding patents, plant variety protection, copyrights and trademarks), the attorney or party presenting the matter must also provide at the time of filing the required notice to the Patent and Trademark Office in patent, plant variety protection and trademark matters (Form AO-120) and the required notice to the Copyright Office in copyright matters (Form AO-121). Copies of the Civil Cover Sheet and other forms are available from the Court's website, www.cacd.uscourts.gov. L.R. 3-2 Filing of Initiating Documents. Unless exempted from electronic filing pursuant to L.R. 5-4.2, case-initiating documents, such as complaints and notices of removal, and all concurrently filed documents must be prepared in the English language and must be filed electronically using the Court's CM/ECF System, in accordance with the applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of this Court. F.R.Civ.P. 5. SERVING AND FILING PLEADINGS AND OTHER PAPERS L.R. 5-2 Filing In Forma Pauperis. An action to be filed in forma pauperis shall be accompanied by a motion, with supporting declaration. The declaration shall set forth information sufficient to establish that the movant will be unable to pay the fees and costs or give security therefor. The Clerk shall supply forms which may be used for an application to proceed in forma pauperis. L.R. 5-3 Serving Documents. Unless service is governed by F.R.Civ.P. 4, documents must be served as follows: L.R. 5-3.1 Service of Documents Not Filed Electronically. L.R. 5-3.1.1 Service. Documents presented to the Clerk for filing or lodging in paper format pursuant to L.R. 5-4.2 must be served in accordance with F.R.Civ.P. 5. All documents served under this L.R. 5-3.1.1 must be accompanied by a proof of service in the form required by L.R. 5-3.1.2. __________________________________