Service of Process, as defined under UCSF Policy No. 050-18 involves:
Delivery of legal notices to an individual organization to provide official notice of legal action or proceeding. The two common types of service of process are:
1) personal service (i.e., legal papers are hand-delivered to the individual to be served); and 2) mail service (i.e., legal papers are mailed to the individual or organization to be served).
Documents commonly served on the University of California are:
1) Summons and Complaints initiating litigation; and 2) Subpoenas requesting University records. Procedures for accepting service are dependent upon several factors, including the legal action being pursued, parties to the action and types of records being requested.
The Office of the General Counsel of the University of California has developed guidelines for service of process on The Regents. That policy, together with procedures for the acceptance of legal actions at UCSF, is summarized below:
SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT
If the UCSF campus, UCSF Medical Center, the University of California or The Regents is the entity being served or is a party named in the lawsuit, process servers should be directed to the Office of the General Counsel (1111 Franklin Street, 8 th Floor, Oakland, CA 94607-5200), which is authorized to accept service of process on The Regents. UC campuses and medical centers are encompassed by The Regents are not independent legal entities. As such, The Regents is the proper party to name as defendant in any dispute involving The Regents or any of the campuses or medical centers it encompasses.
Service upon individuals
Note that the Office of the General Counsel is authorized to accept service on behalf of certain designated officers, including Chancellors and the President of the University, but not on behalf of individuals named as defendants. Named individuals must be served directly under provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure , unless specific alternate arrangements are made with the individuals through the Office of the General Counsel, campus counsel or campus or medical center risk managers.
SUBPOENAS
Subpoenas are of three varieties:
Witness Subpoena: a court order requiring a person to appear in court on a certain date and testify as a witness;
Subpoena Duces Tecum (Records): a court order requiring the person subpoenaed to produce books, documents or other records under his/her control at a specified time and place in a court hearing or a deposition. Many times compliance can be achieved by mailing or providing the records on a specified date without having to appear in person; and
Deposition Subpoena: a court order requiring a person who is not a party to the court proceeding to provide copies of business records to, and/or appear at a deposition to be questioned by the subpoenaing party. This is the most common type of subpoena received at UCSF. The Deposition Subpoena differs from the Subpoena Duces Tecum in that production of and testimony regarding the records revolve around the formal discovery process before trial and is not used in connection with a court hearing.
COMMON TYPES OF SUBPOENAS
Type of Subpoena
Office Accepting Service
Payroll/Personnel Records
Accounting/Payroll Department
1855 Folsom Street, MCB 425
San Francisco , CA 94143-0812
Medical Patient Records
Health Information Management Services
185 Berry Street , Lobby 1, Suite 2000
San Francisco , Ca 94107
Individual/Doctor Involving University/Hospital Business Depositions
Risk Management, Medical Center
533 Parnassus Avenue , U101, Box 0207
San Francisco , CA 94143-0207
Accidents Involving UCSF Property
Risk Management and Insurance Services
3333 California Street, Suite 325
San Francisco , CA 94143-1338
Law Enforcement Matters
Subpoenas involving law enforcement issues are served upon the department/unit involved in the matter. ALL records involving law enforcement matters must be reviewed by the Office of Legal Affairs prior to production. In addition to local law enforcement agencies such as the San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco Sheriff's Department and San Francisco District Attorney's Office, the FBI or other federal agency may appear on campus requesting information. Occasionally, law enforcement officials may seek records without the requisite subpoena. Again, campus representatives must not respond to any request from the FBI or other federal agent for preservation or production of records, whether written, oral or electronic without instruction from the Office of the General Counsel in Oakland or Office of Legal Affairs at UCSF. Instructions to IT employees for the handling of such requests from federal agents can be found at: http://www.ucop.edu/irc/policy/fbi_it_inst.pdf
Summons and Complaints Naming UCSF, UCSF Medical Center or The Regents
Office of the General Counsel
1111 Franklin Street , 8 th Floor
Oakland , CA 94607-5200
Individual Employee Not Involving University Business
Directly to the named employee
All subpoenas served upon UCSF are directed to the Office of Legal Affairs which coordinates the production of documents. The Office of Legal Affairs determines those departments which must comply with the subpoena; offers advice in the collection of documents; and, liaisons with process servers and counsel in the timing and costs of production. Individual departments have the option of issuing invoices for costs and labor involved in processing subpoenas. Invoices are presented by the Office of Legal Affairs to process servers upon delivery of documents. Pursuant to California Evidence Code § 1563 costs are calculated as follows:
Description
Rate
Photocopies
$.10 / copy
Microfiche & Microfilm Copies
$.20 / copy
Document Photocopying - Time
= to $24.00 / Hour*
Document Retrieval – Time
= to $24.00 / Hour*
Document Retrieval (from Storage)
$25.00 (flat fee)
* calculated based on the salary of the employee performing the work
Acceptance of service of legal actions can be confusing and daunting. Departments not listed above which receive subpoenas (via email or personal delivery) should contact Pat Tashima (415-476-2812) or Karen Forte (415-502-2482) in the Office of Legal Affairs for assistance. Pat and Karen can also help you with situations where the guidelines listed here do not appear applicable.
Subpoena Processing