Certificate of Service – Federal Court

Certificate of Service – Federal Court

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
[________________________________] DISTRICT OF [____________________]
[________________] DIVISION

[Full Party Name(s)],

Plaintiff(s),

v.

[Full Party Name(s)],

Defendant(s).

Case No. [____]-cv-[________________________________]

Judge: [________________________________]
Magistrate Judge: [________________________________]

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

(Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b), 5(d)(1)(B); 28 U.S.C. § 1746)

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT — WHEN THIS CERTIFICATE IS REQUIRED

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5(d)(1)(B): No certificate of service is required
when a paper is served by filing it with the court's electronic-filing system (CM/ECF). The
Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) automatically generated upon filing constitutes service on
all registered CM/ECF participants.

This Certificate of Service IS required when:
☐ One or more parties are NOT registered CM/ECF participants (e.g., pro se parties, recently
added parties not yet registered);
☐ Service is by mail, hand delivery, email (without CM/ECF), fax, or other non-CM/ECF means;
☐ A court order or local rule requires a certificate of service for all filings regardless of method;
☐ The document is sealed and not electronically served through CM/ECF; or
☐ The filing is in a court or case type that does not use CM/ECF.

SECTION 1: DOCUMENT(S) SERVED

The undersigned counsel hereby certifies that on [__/__/____], the following document(s) were
served upon all parties/counsel of record:

SECTION 2: SERVICE ON CM/ECF-REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS

2A. Electronic Service via CM/ECF / NEF

☐ On [__/__/____], I electronically filed the foregoing document(s) with the Clerk of the
United States District Court using the CM/ECF system. The Court's CM/ECF system
automatically generated and transmitted a Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) to the following
counsel who are registered CM/ECF participants:

The NEF constitutes service on all parties/counsel listed above. No further service is required
as to these parties. Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(1)(B).

SECTION 3: SERVICE ON NON-CM/ECF PARTICIPANTS

3A. Service by First-Class U.S. Mail — Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(C)

☐ I further certify that on [__/__/____], I caused true and correct copies of the above
document(s) to be placed in sealed envelopes, with postage fully prepaid, addressed as follows,
and deposited in the United States mail:

Note on FRCP 6(d): Service by mail adds three (3) days to any response deadline.

3B. Service by Email (Non-CM/ECF) — Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(E)

☐ The parties have consented to service by electronic means (email) pursuant to a written
agreement on file or as ordered by the Court. Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(E). I caused the documents
to be transmitted by email as follows:

3C. Personal/Hand Delivery — Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(A)

☐ I caused the above documents to be personally delivered to the following person(s) at the
following address(es):

| Name | Address | Date/Time Delivered | Delivered By |
|------|---------|--------------------|-----------—--|
| [________________________________] | [________________________________] | [__/__/____] [____:____] | [________________________________] |
| [________________________________] | [________________________________] | [__/__/____] [____:____] | [________________________________] |

3D. Overnight Mail / Express Courier

☐ I caused the above documents to be dispatched via overnight courier as follows:

3E. Facsimile — Where Permitted by Local Rule or Consent

☐ By agreement of the parties or pursuant to local rule, I caused the above documents to be
transmitted by facsimile to the following:

SECTION 4: CERTIFICATION BLOCK

I, [________________________________], hereby certify under penalty of perjury that the
foregoing statements regarding service are true and correct, and that I am an attorney admitted
to practice before this Court [or an authorized agent of counsel] and that service was effected
as described above.

Executed on [__/__/____], at [________________________________], [____________________].

Respectfully submitted,

Signature: [________________________________]

Printed Name: [________________________________]

Bar Number(s): [________________________________] (State of [____])
[________________________________] (USDC [____] Dist. of [____])

Law Firm: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]
[________________________________]
[________________________________], [____] [__________]

Telephone: ([____]) [____]-[________]

Facsimile: ([____]) [____]-[________]

Email: [________________________________]

Counsel for: [________________________________]

SECTION 5: LOCAL RULE AND PRACTICE CHECKLIST

Federal Certificate of Service — Compliance Checklist:

Sources and References

• Fed. R. Civ. P. 5: https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_5
• Fed. R. Civ. P. 6: https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_6
• 28 U.S.C. § 1746: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1746
• USCOURTS CM/ECF: https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/electronic-filing-cm-ecf
• District of Maryland Certificate of Service Guide: https://www.mdd.uscourts.gov/content/certificate-service
• ABA E-Filing in Federal District Court Checklist: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/gpsolo/resources/ereport/2024-august/e-filing-federal-district-court-checklist/