Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Washington
Is it acceptable to fax a Summary Judgement Response to Plaintiff's attorney?
I am being sued by a collection agency for an amount too small to warrant hiring an attorney but too much of an outrage to just pay up. So I have been representing myself. Is it permissable to send an Answer to Summary Judgement Motion to the Plaintiff's attorney via fax? It is too late to mail the document and I don't want to drive 50 miles to deliver it unless necessary. I personally filed this document already with District Court in WA. Thanks and Happy Holidays!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Is it acceptable to fax a Summary Judgement Response to Plaintiff's attorney?
Unless you have a written agreement with opposing counsel that says both parties consent to service by fax, you had best get in the car now and drive it to his office.
Your foremost obligation is to file your response with the court. Then, you should personally deliver a conformed copy to opposing counsel's office.
There are messenger services where you can fax your copy to them and they will hand-deliver your response. But opposing counsel can ignore your response if not properly tendered.
Send a working copy to the Judge, too, and file a certificate of service where you represent that opposing counsel was personally served with your response. On time.
Powell