Summary
Often, parties to a lawsuit must file and cause service of papers in a lawsuit in order for the Court to hold a hearing on a request that the party is making of the Court. A hearing is an event a specific time and place held by a Court for the judge to make or deny an order that a party has requested. File papers means give copies of those papers to the office of the clerk of the court that the clerk accepts by stamping the top right of the first page of each document that is part of the filing. Serve means lawfully deliver to the other party, possibly by personal delivery made by a third person who is not part of the case, but, frequently possible by mail or email.
This blog focuses on helping a party assemble papers to a filing for purposes of filing “over the counter,” at the office of the clerk. In short, make one copy of each set of documents, and two copies of the first page of each document. Put each document, followed by the two copies of the first page into a separate file folder, preferably with a different color. Do not bind with a staple or otherwise the copies. Mark the folder clearly stating which document is in it. Organize the folders, putting the folder with the lead document first, and the second document second, and so on. Go to the office of the clerk. Find the correct line. When its your turn, tell the clerk you are there to file a “State the Name of a Procedure,” and ask if the clerk wants the lead document. The clerk will examine the document for properly title, case number, dates and signature. Bring a pen, so you can overwrite items on the pages in hand, if required. If and when the clerk is ready to accept the document, the clerk with stamp the first page. Ask for conformed copies and hand the clerk the two copies of the first page. Repeat for each document. Details follow.
