Gillespie v. Civiletti
629 F.2d 637 (9th Cir. 1980) Cited 2,806 times 2 Legal AnalysesHolding that where a plaintiff is unaware of the identity of alleged defendants, "plaintiff should be given an opportunity through discovery to identify the unknown defendants, unless it is clear that discovery would not uncover the identities or that the complaint would be dismissed on other grounds"
GTE New Media Services Inc. v. BellSouth Corp.
199 F.3d 1343 (D.C. Cir. 2000) Cited 480 timesHolding that personal jurisdiction could not be based upon "mere accessibility to an Internet site in the District" where defendants had "no other contacts with the District of Columbia"
Rule 15 - Amended and Supplemental Pleadings
Fed. R. Civ. P. 15 Cited 91,980 times 91 Legal AnalysesFinding that, per N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 1024, New York law provides a more forgiving principle for relation back in the context of naming John Doe defendants described with particularity in the complaint
Rule 4 - Summons
Fed. R. Civ. P. 4 Cited 70,485 times 126 Legal AnalysesHolding that if defendant is not served within 90 days after the complaint is filed, the court—on a motion, or on its own following notice to the plaintiff—must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made by a certain time
Rule 11 - Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions
Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 Cited 36,298 times 145 Legal AnalysesHolding an "unrepresented party" to the same standard as an attorney
Section 507 - Limitations on actions
17 U.S.C. § 507 Cited 839 times 70 Legal AnalysesProhibiting copyright-infringement claims that are filed more than three years after they accrued