Making sure your Arizona Personal Injury Complaint is properly served requires the preparation of a Summons that is provided to the process server to provide to the Defendant along with the Complaint. The Summons instructs the Defendant of the deadline to file an Answer or responsive pleading, which is generally 20 days from the date of personal service if served inside Arizona and 30 days from the date of personal service if served outside of Arizona.
The Defendant’s attorney that is hired by insurance carrier sometimes will agree to accept service on behalf of the named Defendant for judicial economy and to avoid unnecessary service of process charges. An Acceptance of Service form is provided Defendant’s counsel, which then can be filed with the Court. This replaces the need for a Process Server’s affidavit, also filed with the court, outlining where and when the Defendant was served.
A Waiver of Service of Process is typically agreed to by a Defendant who is unrepresented since this type of agreement allows the Defendant 60 days from the date of personal service to file and Answer or responsive pleading.
Examples of Summons for an Individual, Business Entity and John or Jane Doe are listed as follows: