1205 SERVICE OF PAPERS

1205.1 Any paper required to be served upon a party shall be served upon him or her or upon the representative designated by him or her, or on any person otherwise designated by law to receive service of papers.

1205.2 When a party has appeared through an attorney or representative, service shall be made upon the attorney or representative of record.

1205.3 Service may be made by personal delivery, by mail, by email, or as otherwise authorized by law, although email always is the preferred method of service and required method during emergencies as described in subsection 1202.8.

1205.4 Service upon a party shall be completed as follows:

(a) By personal delivery: Service by personal delivery shall be made by handing the paper to the party or a representative, leaving it at the party's or representative's place of business with an employee of suitable discretion, or leaving it at the party's residence with an adult who lives there. Service by personal delivery shall be deemed effective when the paper is handed to the party or representative, when the paper is left at the representative's place of business with such employee, or when left at the party's residence with such adult;

(b) By email: Service by email shall be made by sending an email to the party's email address or to the email address of the party's attorney or representative as listed on the written appearance submitted pursuant to § 1204 and shall be deemed effected at the time of electronic transmission;

(c) By mail: Service made by postal mail through the United States Postal Service ('USPS') shall be deemed effected on depositing the paper in a USPS mailbox, with a USPS mail carrier, or with a USPS employee at a post office, if the mail is properly enveloped, stamped and properly addressed; or

(d) By Board-authorized method: Service may be made by any other method authorized by an order of the Board made in any proceeding and such service shall be deemed effected as prescribed in the order, or in the absence of such prescription, upon receipt by the party or the party's representative.

1205.5 Proof of service, stating the name and address of the person served and the manner and date of service, shall be shown for each document served.

1205.6 Proof of service may be made by filing with the Board any of the following:

(a) A written acknowledgment of the party served or his or her attorney of record;

(b) A certificate of the attorney of record if he or she has made the service; or

(c) A certificate of the person making the service.

1205.7 For the purposes of this chapter, the phrase “filing with the Board,” means the actual or electronic delivery to, and physical or electronic receipt by, the Board.

1205.8 All documents filed with the Board relating to an existing appeal request shall bear a caption which identifies the appellant, the Board’s case or reference number, and the title of the pleading or document.

1205.9 All documents filed with the Board shall be printed on letter-sized paper using a font no smaller than twelve (12) point.

1205.10 The Board strongly encourages appellants to file and serve appeals by email which will streamline and expedite the appeal process. If an appeal is filed with the Board by email, service upon the filing party may thereafter be made by email in all filings for that appeal, even if the email address of the filing party or his or her attorney was not listed on the written appearance submitted pursuant to § 1204. The party is responsible for ensuring that the Board has an accurate, up-to-date email address that is checked regularly. In the case of a public emergency declared pursuant to Section 5 or 5a of the District of Columbia Public Emergency Act of 1980, effective October 7, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-194; D.C. Official Code § 7-2304 or 7-2304.01), that is in effect for over seven (7) days the Board may serve orders and notices on a party by email, even if the party’s email address was not listed on the written appearance submitted pursuant to § 1204, throughout the duration of the emergency and for a period equal to the duration of the emergency or ninety (90) calendar days, whichever is shorter, following the end of the public emergency. Each party is responsible for ensuring that the Board has an accurate, up-to-date email address that is checked regularly.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 62 DCR 11123 (August 14, 2015); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 68 DCR 5402 (May 21, 2021); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 69 DCR 006698 (June 10, 2022).