658
Opinion of the Court
complaint. But the court clerk did not respond immediately. Counsel eventually obtained the forms on April 21, 1993, and completed and returned them to the clerk. On May 4, counsel received the summons mailed to him from the clerk's office, and on May 19, counsel sent the summons and complaint, by certified mail, to the Attorney General,4 who received them on May 25.
Service on the local United States Attorney took longer. On May 25, Henderson's counsel forwarded the summons and complaint, as received from the clerk, to a "constable" with a request to effect service. On June 1, the constable's office returned the documents, informing Henderson's counsel that the summons was not in proper form, because it lacked the court's seal. Counsel thereupon wrote to the court clerk requesting new summons forms with the appropriate court seal. Counsel repeated this request on August 19; ultimately, on August 25, Henderson's counsel received the properly sealed summons.
Once again, Henderson's counsel requested the constable's service and, on August 30, moved for an extension of time to serve the United States Attorney.5 The court granted the motion, extending the time for service until September 15. The United States Attorney received personal service of the summons and complaint, in proper form, on September 3, 1993.
4 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(d)(4), effective at that time, instructed that "a copy of the summons and of the complaint [be sent] by registered or certified mail to the Attorney General of the United States at Washington, District of Columbia." The same instruction currently appears in Rule 4(i)(1)(B).
5 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(j), then in force, provided for service of the summons and complaint within 120 days after the filing of the complaint, a time limit subject to extension for good cause. The substance of this provision is retained in current Rule 4(m), which permits a district court to enlarge the time for service "even if there is no good cause shown." Advisory Committee's Notes on 1993 Amendments to Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 4, 28 U. S. C. App., p. 654.
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