MBE Rules · Civil Procedure
Rule 4(d) — waiver of service
FRCP 4(d)
The rule
A plaintiff may request that a defendant waive formal service by mailing a written request with two copies of the waiver form. A defendant who waives receives 60 days from the request (90 if outside the U.S.) to answer instead of 21. A defendant who refuses without good cause must pay the costs of subsequent formal service.
In plain English
Waiver is the cheap route: the plaintiff avoids process-server fees, and the defendant gets extra time to answer. Waiver does NOT waive objections to personal jurisdiction or venue — only to the manner of service.
The trap
Students think waiver of service = waiver of PJ. It does not.
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