Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

What constitutes a "major defect" that would cause a Clerk not to accept a civil complaint for filing?? What latitude does the Clerk have to accept a complaint with a "minor" defect that can be easily corrected??

Example...Small Claims clerk refused to accept a Small Claims complaint properly submitted via fax because the street name of the Defendant was misspelled on the Summons...by the time the Clerk notified the Plaintiff via mail the statute of limitations expired...


Asked on 2/19/13, 7:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

People who wait until the last minute to file important court paperwork must bear the risk of things going wrong. If you were present filing the paperwork in person, then you should have been allowed to line out the error, correct it, and initial it. I have a feeling that more went on here than you tell us.

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Answered on 2/20/13, 9:12 am


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