Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: limited civil case

All State lawsuits are supposed to be served within 30 days of suit being filed, but often they are not. Depending on the jurisdiction, they will send out a notice after a few months ordering you to appear in court on a certain date as to why the judge should not fine you for not serving the other side, unless you do serve them before the hearing date and inform the court of that. Judges vary as to how stern they are in enforcing the service rule. Some courts will, upon your filing the suit, give you a date for a status conference by which time service is supposed to have occurred.