Rule 9.Service and Filing of Pleadings and Other Documents

Once a case is underway, Rule 9 governs how the parties exchange the paperwork that follows the original complaint — orders, later pleadings, written motions other than ones that may be heard ex parte, without notice to the other side, and documents such as notices, demands, and offers to allow judgment. Every one of these must be served on every party, with one exception: a party who has defaulted by failing to appear does not need to be served with routine documents, though if a later pleading raises a new or additional claim against that defaulted party, it must be served the same way a summons is served under Rule 7.

If a party has a lawyer, service goes to the lawyer instead of the party directly, unless the court says otherwise. The rule recognizes several ways to deliver documents: handing a copy to the person, leaving it at their office with whoever is in charge, leaving it at their home with a resident who is at least 14, mailing it to their last known address, or, where the rule allows it, serving by fax, email, or the Oregon Judicial Department’s electronic filing system. Mailed service is complete the moment it is mailed, though Rule 10 B adds 3 extra days to whatever deadline follows most kinds of mailed, faxed, or electronic service.

Serving a document is not the same as filing it. Rule 9 generally requires documents served on a party to also be filed with the court within a reasonable time, along with proof of service — a written acknowledgment, an affidavit or declaration, or an attorney’s certificate, with the specific proof required depending on whether service was by mail, fax, email, or electronic filing. Some documents, like deposition notices and discovery requests and responses, are kept out of the court file unless they become relevant as evidence. And the clerk can refuse to accept a document for filing if it lacks a proper caption or is illegible, or if it does not list the filer’s name, address, and phone number.