About AutoSummons

What we do

AutoSummons moves the waiver-of-service process under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(d) online. Instead of mailing a defendant a packet of paper forms and waiting for one to come back, a plaintiff (or their counsel) uploads the complaint, and AutoSummons prepares the official court forms — the Notice of a Lawsuit and Request to Waive Service of a Summons (AO 398) and the Waiver of the Service of Summons (AO 399) — pre-filled with the case caption, court, and the name of the person being served. The recipient gets a secure link by email, reviews the documents in their browser, and can sign the waiver electronically in minutes.

Why waiver of service

Rule 4(d) exists because formal service of process — hiring a process server, personal delivery, proof-of-service affidavits — is expensive, and the rules place a duty on defendants to avoid those unnecessary expenses. A defendant who waives loses nothing except the ability to object to how they were served: every other defense is preserved, and they get extra time to answer the complaint (60 days from the request instead of 21 days from service; 90 days if outside the United States). A defendant who refuses without good cause can be ordered to pay the costs of formal service. Waiver is usually the rational choice for both sides — the paper process is just slow and easy to get wrong.

The evidence record

Because a waiver request only helps if you can prove what happened, AutoSummons records every step — when the request was sent and to exactly which email address, delivery confirmations from our email provider, when the secure link was opened, which documents were viewed and downloaded and when, and the electronic signature itself with its consent record. Events are written to a tamper-evident, append-only audit log, and the executed waiver comes with a certificate of completion. You can see the whole picture live in your dashboard and download it as a court-ready Service Engagement Report.

Recipients pay nothing

If you received a link from AutoSummons, you were named in a lawsuit and the filing party is asking you to waive formal service. You do not need an account, you will never be charged, and signing electronically is optional — you can download the waiver form and return it by mail instead, or decline. The portal explains in plain language what waiving does and does not mean before you decide anything.

What AutoSummons is not

AutoSummons is not a law firm, does not provide legal advice, and is not a process server. We facilitate the exchange of documents and maintain the record of that exchange. Whether waiver of service is appropriate for your case — and every other legal decision — is yours or your counsel's alone.

Pricing

Pricing is simple and shown before checkout: $10.00 per recipient, delivered by email. Reminders and re-sends to a recipient you have already paid for are included.

To learn how the process works step by step, and for background on Rule 4(d) itself, see our Resources page.