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Filing a document with the court is only half the picture. In most cases, the other parties involved also need to know that the filing happened; this is called service. This page covers how service works in an efiling context.

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The service requirement

Due process generally requires that parties to a case have an opportunity to see what has been filed against them and respond. This used to be done by physically delivering copies of documents, by hand, mail, or a process server, to the relevant parties. It is now increasingly done by email or other digital means.

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Bundling filing and service

Efiling systems often allow you to manage service alongside filing, so that you can send a document to the court and to various parties using the same platform. When a filer submits a document, they can typically choose to:
  • File: the document is sent to the court.
  • Serve: the document is sent to various parties.
  • File and serve; the document is sent to the court, and copies are simultaneously transmitted to various parties.

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Service contacts

Each party in a case (or their attorney) can have one or more service contacts on file. These are the email addresses of people that should receive copies of filings made in that case. Efiling systems often manage service contacts at the case level, independent of any single filing. Once a person is attached as a contact to a case, that association is public, and the filing system will present filers with an an option to serve that contact on subsequent filings.

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Courtesy copies

In addition to formal service, a filer can often request courtesy copies, additional email addresses (a paralegal, co-counsel, their own records) that receive a copy of what was filed, without being part of the legally significant service record. Courtesy copies are a convenience; they do not satisfy a service requirement on their own.

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The service record

Electronic service typically produces a timestamped confirmation that a document was transmitted to the email address for a given service contact. It may not guarantee that a human opened or read the email.