§ 428.60.Service

Section 428.60 sets the service rule for cross-complaints, and it splits on a single question: has the party being served already appeared in the action? If not, paragraph (1) requires a summons on the cross-complaint to be issued and served in the same manner used to commence an original action — the full formal service process, since this may be the party's first notice that it is now part of the case.

If the party has already appeared, paragraph (2) allows lighter-touch service: the cross-complaint is served on the party's attorney, or on the party directly if unrepresented, either in the manner used for serving a summons or in the manner set out in Chapter 5 (commencing with § 1010) of Title 14 of Part 2 — the ordinary rules for serving papers on parties already active in a case.

This two-track approach reflects a basic due-process idea running throughout the cross-complaint rules: someone newly brought into a lawsuit through a cross-complaint needs the same formal notice a defendant gets at the start of any action, while someone already litigating the case can be served the same way any other paper in the case is served.