E.D. Tex. Local Rule CV-4 — Complaint, Summons, and Return

High confidence· verified September 26, 2026Local Rules

Summary

E.D. Tex. Local Rule CV-4 — Complaint, Summons, and Return: the court's own rule, verbatim from UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS LOCAL RULES (as of February 9, 2026), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: applies in every case before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas alongside the federal rules and any judge-specific procedures.

Requirement

(a) At the commencement of the action, counsel shall prepare and file the civil cover sheet, Form JS 44, along with the complaint. When filing a patent, trademark, or copyright case, counsel is also responsible for electronically filing an AO Form 120 or 121 using the event Notice of Filing of Patent/Trademark Form (AO 120) or Notice of Filing of Copyright Form (AO 121). If service of summons is not waived, the plaintiff must prepare and submit a summons to the clerk for each defendant to be served with a copy of the complaint. Unless exempt from electronic filing under Local Rule CV-5(a), the plaintiff must submit the summons by uploading it to the Electronic Filing System using the Request for Clerk to Issue Document event. (b) Electronic Filing of Complaints. Attorneys must electronically file a civil complaint upon opening a civil case in CM/ECF. (c) On the complaint, all litigants shall type or print all party names contained in the case caption with the accurate capitalization and spacing for each party (e.g., Martha vanDerkloot, James De Borne). This procedure seeks to ensure that accurate computer party name searches can later be performed. (d) Service of civil process shall not be executed by the United States Marshal except for government initiated process, extraordinary writ, or when ordered to do so by a judge. The party requesting service is responsible for preparing all process forms to be supplied by the clerk. When process is to be served by the United States Marshal, the party seeking service shall complete the required U.S. Marshal Form 285.

Source of truth

(a) At the commencement of the action, counsel shall prepare and file the civil cover sheet, Form JS 44, along with the complaint. When filing a patent, trademark, or copyright case, counsel is also responsible for electronically filing an AO Form 120 or 121 using the event Notic

Official source: E.D. Tex. — Rules & Orders (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas)
Source health: Healthy · checked October 4, 2026
Effective date: February 9, 2026
Last verified: September 26, 2026benchpath-appfed-rules-2026-09-25

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