When you start a legal case against someone by filing a complaint, you have three years to serve them with the summons and complaint. Once you've served them, you need to file proof of this service with the court within 60 days.

This section explains that if a defendant formally responds to a lawsuit, it can affect the deadlines for serving legal papers. However, certain actions by the defendant, like agreeing to more time for service, asking the court to dismiss the case, or requesting more time to respond after a dismissal motion, do not count as formal participation in the lawsuit.

In California, if parties involved in a legal case need more time to serve documents, they can agree to extend the deadline. They can do this in two ways: by a written agreement or orally in court. If it's a written agreement, it doesn't have to be filed with the court unless it's relevant to a motion to dismiss the case. If they agree orally in court, it must be recorded in the court's minutes or a transcript.

This law explains that when calculating deadlines for serving a defendant, certain time periods don't count. These are times when the defendant couldn't be called to court, when the case was put on hold affecting service, when the service's legality was being challenged, or when it was genuinely impossible to serve due to issues outside the control of the person serving. Not finding facts or evidence doesn't count as beyond the server's control.

If a legal action isn't officially started by serving the necessary documents within the time limit set by this law, the case must be stopped completely. The court will dismiss it, either on its own or if someone involved requests it, after informing all parties. This timing rule is strict and can't be changed or ignored unless another law specifically allows it.