[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 17, Volume 1] [Revised as of April 1, 2006] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 17CFR10.12] [Page 235-237] TITLE 17--COMMODITY AND SECURITIES EXCHANGES CHAPTER I--COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION PART 10_RULES OF PRACTICE--Table of Contents Subpart A_General Provisions Sec. 10.12 Service and filing of documents; form and execution. (a) Service by a party or other participant in a proceeding--(1) Number of copies; when required. Two copies of all [[Page 236]] pleadings subsequent to the complaint, all motions, petitions or applications made in the course of a proceeding (unless made orally during a hearing), all proposed findings and conclusions, all petitions for review of any initial decision, and all briefs shall be served by the party or other participant upon all parties to the proceeding. (2) How service is made. Service shall be made by personal service, delivering the documents by first-class United States mail or a similar commercial package delivery service, or transmitting the documents via facsimile machine. Service shall be complete at the time of personal service or upon deposit in the mails or with a similar commercial package delivery service of a properly addressed document for which all postage or fees have been paid to the mail or delivery service. Where a party effects service by mail or similar package delivery service, the time within which the party being served may respond shall be extended by three days. Service by facsimile machine shall be permitted only if all parties to the proceeding have agreed to such an arrangement in writing and a copy of the written agreement, signed by each party, has been filed with the Proceedings Clerk. The agreement must specify the facsimile machine telephone numbers to be used, the hours during which the facsimile machine is in operation and when service will be deemed complete. (3) Proof of Service. Proof of service of a document shall be made by filing with the Proceedings Clerk, simultaneously with the filing of the required number of copies of the document, an affidavit of service executed by any person 18 years of age or older or a certificate of service executed by an attorney-at-law qualified to practice before the Commission. The proof of service shall identify the persons served, state that service has been made, set forth the date of service, and recite the manner of service. (b) Service of decisions and orders. A copy of all rulings, opinions and orders of the Administrative Law Judge and the Commissions shall be served by the Proceedings Clerk on each of the parties. (c) Designation of person to receive service. The first document filed in a proceeding by or on behalf of any party or participant (including the complaint and notice of hearing, the answer, and an application for intervention) shall state on the first page thereof the name and post office address of the person who is authorized to receive service for him of all documents filed in the proceeding. Thereafter service of documents shall be made upon the person authorized unless service on the party himself is ordered by the Administrative Law Judge or the Commission, or unless no person authorized to receive service can be found, or unless the person authorized is changed by the party upon due notice to all other parties. (d) Filing of documents with the Proceedings Clerk. (1) All documents which are required to be served upon a party shall be filed concurrently with the Proceedings Clerk. A document shall be filed by delivering it in person or by certified or registered mail with return receipt requested to: Proceedings Clerk, Office of Proceedings, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20581. (2) To be timely filed, a document must be received by the Proceedings Clerk within the time prescribed for filing. (e) Formalities of filing--(1) Number of copies. Unless otherwise specifically provided, an original and five conformed copies of all documents shall be filed with the Proceedings Clerk. (2) Title page. All documents filed with the Proceedings Clerk must include at the head thereof, or on a title page, the name of the Commission, the docket number and title of the proceeding, the subject of the particular document and the name of the person in whose behalf the document is being filed. In the complaint the title of the action shall include the names of all the respondents, but in documents subsequently filed it is sufficient to state the name of the first respondent named in the complaint with an appropriate indication of other parties. (3) Paper, spacing, type. All documents filed under this part shall be typewritten, mimeographed, printed, or otherwise reproduced by a process that produces permanent and plainly [[Page 237]] legible copies, shall be on one grade of good unglazed white paper no less than 8 or more than 8\1/2\ inches wide and no less than 10\1/2\ or more than 14 inches long, with a left-hand margin 1\1/2\ inches wide, and shall be bound on the top only. They shall be double spaced, except for long quotations (3 or more lines) and footnotes, which should be single-spaced. If printed, the documents shall be in either 10- or 12- point type with double-leaded text and single-leaded quotations and footnotes. (4) Signatures. The original copy of all papers must be signed in ink by the person filing the same or by his duly authorized agent or attorney. (5) Length and form of briefs. All briefs filed with the Proceedings Clerk containing more than ten pages shall include an index and a table of cases and other authorities cited. The date of each brief must appear on its front cover or title page and on its signature page. No brief shall exceed 60 pages in length, except with the permission of the Administrative Law Judge or, by the Commission, to whomever the brief is directed. (6) Documents improperly tendered for filing. No document will be accepted unless it complies with the requirements of this paragraph concerning form, filing, subscription, service and other similar matters. A document tendered but not accepted for filing shall not be entered on the Proceedings Clerk's docket, but a motion may be made to the Administrative Law Judge for leave to file an otherwise unauthorized document. (f) Subscriptions--(1) By whom. Pleadings, petitions, motions and answers thereto, briefs and other documents filed with the Commission shall be subscribed: (i) By the person or persons on whose behalf they are tendered for filing; (ii) By a partner, officer or director of a partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity; or (iii) By an attorney-at-law having authority with respect thereto. The Proceedings Clerk may require appropriate evidence of the authority of a person subscribing a document on behalf of another person. (2) Effect. The signature on a document of any person acting either for himself or as attorney or agent for another constitutes a certification by him that: (i) He has read the document subscribed and knows the contents thereof; (ii) If executed in any representative capacity, it was done with full power and authority to do so; (iii) To the best of his knowledge, information and belief, every statement contained in the document is true and not misleading; and (iv) The document is not being interposed for delay. (3) Sham documents. If a document is not signed or is signed with an intent to defeat the purpose of this rule, it may be stricken as sham and false. For a willful violation of this rule an attorney may be subjected to appropriate disciplinary action pursuant to Sec. 10.11(b). Similar action may be taken if scandalous matter is inserted. (g) Official docket. The Proceedings Clerk will maintain the official docket for each proceeding. The official docket is available for public inspection in the Commission's Office of Proceedings. [41 FR 2511, Jan. 16, 1976, as amended at 41 FR 28260, July 9, 1976; 60 FR 54802, Oct. 26, 1995; 63 FR 55791, Oct. 19, 1998]