Los Angeles, California Process Servers

The process servers listed here serve legal papers in Los Angeles at homes, workplaces and offices across the city, from the San Fernando Valley to San Pedro. Downtown, the main civil courthouse, City Hall and the county's administration building are a few blocks apart, so many jobs start there. Below are the in-city addresses that come up most, then the California rules that apply.

Where papers get served in Los Angeles

Superior Court courthouses in the city

The Superior Court of Los Angeles County runs several courthouses inside the City of Los Angeles. The court's Filing Court Locator matches an address to the right courthouse.

Stanley Mosk Courthouse
111 N. Hill Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

The downtown LA courthouse for civil cases, and the small claims hub for downtown Los Angeles.

Spring Street Courthouse
312 N. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Home to the court's personal injury hub departments.

Van Nuys Courthouse East
6230 Sylmar Avenue
Van Nuys, CA 91401

The small claims courthouse for the court's Northwest District. Van Nuys and Chatsworth (which also has a small claims hub) are neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles, even though their mail carries their own names.

In small claims, an individual can sue for up to $12,500 and a business for up to $6,250, and you can file no more than two claims a year for over $2,500 (LA Superior Court). You can't serve your own small claims papers. See how to serve small claims forms.

Suing the City of Los Angeles

Office of the City Clerk, City Hall Room 395
200 N. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

The City Clerk accepts summonses and complaints naming the City or any City department, and subpoenas naming the City or the City Clerk, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except City holidays. The entrance is on Main Street. It does not accept papers for the Housing Authority (HACLA) or for individuals, and it does not accept service by email.

Suing the County of Los Angeles

LA County Board of Supervisors, Room 383
500 W. Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Summonses and complaints against the County are accepted by designated staff at this address in the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration.

The City and the County are separate defendants with separate addresses. Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Culver City and West Hollywood are separate cities too, even where they border or sit inside Los Angeles, so check which government a dispute is really with.

Registered agents

To sue a company, you usually serve its agent for service of process. Look up the agent and its address on the California Secretary of State's bizfile search. Many large agents' California service addresses are not in Los Angeles. CT Corporation's is at 330 N. Brand Blvd. in Glendale, just outside the city, and Cogency Global's and Corporate Creations' are in Sacramento. Your server goes wherever the agent is listed. Read more about agents for service of process.

California rules for serving papers

Any adult who is at least 18 and not a party to the case can serve papers in California (Code of Civil Procedure § 414.10). Anyone who makes more than 10 services in a calendar year for pay must register as a process server with the county clerk where they live or have their main place of business (Business and Professions Code § 22350). An LA registered process server whose home or main business is in Los Angeles County registers with the Los Angeles County Clerk.

In a civil case, the complaint must be served and the proofs of service filed within 60 days after the complaint is filed. A defendant added by amendment must be served, with proof filed, within 30 days (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.110). See service of process deadlines for more.

Starting January 1, 2027, California's SPARE Act (AB 747) changes how service is proved. Each attempt needs a photo stamped with the date, time and GPS location. Servers must try personal delivery on three different days at different times before substituted service or posting, and a registered server's number goes on the proof. Read what the SPARE Act means when you hire a process server.

The Sheriff also serves civil papers in Los Angeles County. A private server can usually make more attempts, at more varied times, and report back on each one.

For the full statewide rules, see California process serving laws.

Hospitals and large employers

Hospitals are among the city's largest employers. Servers can reach employees at work, though large campuses have security desks and may ask the server to wait in a public area.

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
757 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Children's Hospital Los Angeles
4650 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

LA General Medical Center
1200 N. State Street
Los Angeles, CA 90033

Serving an employee at work is different from suing the employer. A lawsuit against the employer itself generally goes to its registered agent. LA General is run by the County's Department of Health Services, so a suit against it goes through the County, not the hospital.

Nearby cities

The same servers often work the surrounding area. Find a process server in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Downey and Pasadena.

This is a general summary, not legal advice.