Pleadings, Filing, and Service

PURPOSE: This rule prescribes the content and procedure for filing pleadings before the commission and for service thereof. (1) Every pleading or brief shall be signed by an attorney of record with the attorney’s individual name or, if a natural person is not represented by an attorney, shall be signed by the natural person. (2) By signing a pleading, the signer represents that he or she is authorized to so act. (3) Pleadings or briefs shall include the signer’s address, state bar number(s), email address, fax number, and telephone number, if any. (4) Each pleading shall include a clear and concise statement of the relief requested, a specific reference to the statutory provision or other authority under which relief is requested, and a concise statement of the facts entitling the party to relief. (5) An unsigned pleading or brief may be rejected. (6) By presenting or maintaining a claim, defense, request, demand, objection, contention, or argument in a pleading, motion, brief, or other document filed with or submitted to the commission, an attorney or party is certifying to the best of the signer’s knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances, that— (A) The claim, defense, request, demand, objection, contention, or argument is not presented or maintained for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation; (B) The claims, defenses, and other legal contentions therein are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law; (C) The allegations and other factual contentions have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, are likely to have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery; and (D) The denials of factual contentions are warranted on the evidence or, if specifically so identified, are reasonably based on a lack of information or belief. (7) Any person filing a pleading or a brief shall file with the secretary of the commission either— (A) The original; or (B) An electronic copy. (8) Each pleading may be accompanied by a cover letter which states the subject matter. This cover letter shall contain no matter for commission decision. (9) Any document’s filing date shall be the date and time the document is physically or electronically stamped as filed by the secretary of the commission. Documents physically received in the commission’s data center during regular business hours shall be stamped on the date received. Documents physically received in the commission’s data center after regular business hours shall be stamped the next day that the commission has regular business hours. Documents submitted electronically to the commission’s electronic filing and information system (EFIS) will be stamped filed on the date and time the document is received in EFIS and will be deemed filed on that date and time. (10) Pleadings and briefs in every instance shall display on the cover or first page the case number and the title of the case. In the event the title of a case contains more than one (1) name as applicants, complainants, or respondents, it shall be sufficient to show only the first of these names as it appears in the first document commencing the case, followed by an appropriate abbreviation (et al.) indicating the existence of other parties. (11) Pleadings and briefs that are not electronically filed shall be bound at the top or at an edge, shall be typewritten or printed upon white, eight and one-half by eleven-inch (8 1/2" × 11") paper. Attachments to pleadings or briefs shall be annexed and folded to eight and one-half by eleven-inch (8 1/2" × 11") size whenever practicable. Printing on both sides of the page is encouraged. Lines shall be double-spaced, except that footnotes and quotations in excess of three (3) lines may be single-spaced. Reproduction of any of these documents may be by any process provided all copies are clear and permanently legible. Electronically filed pleadings or briefs shall be formatted in the same manner as paper filings. (12) Pleadings and briefs which are not in substantial compliance with this rule, applicable statutes, or commission orders may not be accepted for filing. In addition, filings will be scanned for computer viruses before being uploaded into the commission’s electronic system and may not be accepted if the filing is infected. The secretary of the commission may return these pleadings or briefs with a concise explanation of the deficiencies and the reasons for not accepting them for filing. Tendered filings which have been rejected may not be entered on the commission’s docket. The mere fact of filing shall not constitute a waiver of any noncompliance with these rules, and the commission may require amendment of a pleading or entertain appropriate motions in connection with the pleading. (13) Parties shall be allowed ten (10) days from the date of filing in which to respond to any pleading unless otherwise ordered by the commission. (14) Any request for expedited treatment shall include the words “Motion for Expedited Treatment” in the title of the pleading. The pleading shall also set out with particularity the following: (A) The date by which the party desires the commission to act; (B) The harm that will be avoided, or the benefit that will accrue, including a statement of the negative effect, or that there will be no negative effect, on the party’s customers or the general public, if the commission acts by the date desired by the party; and (C) That the pleading was filed as soon as it could have been or an explanation why it was not. (15) Unless otherwise provided by these rules or by other law, the party filing a pleading or brief shall serve every other party, including the staff counsel and the public counsel, a copy of the pleading or brief and cover letter. Any party may contact the secretary of the commission for the names and addresses of the parties in a case. (16) Methods of Service. (A) Any person entitled by law may serve a document on a represented party by— 1. Delivering it to the party’s attorney; 2. Leaving it at the office of the party’s attorney with a secretary, clerk, or attorney associated with or employed by the attorney served; 3. Mailing it to the last known address of the party’s attorney; 4. Transmitting it by facsimile machine to the party’s attorney; or 5. Transmitting it to the email address of the party’s attorney. (B) Any person entitled by law may serve a document on an unrepresented party by— 1. Delivering it to the party; or 2. Mailing it to the party’s last known address. (C) Completion of Service. 1. Service by mail is complete upon mailing. 2. Service by facsimile transmission is complete upon actual receipt. 3. Service by email is complete upon actual receipt. (17) Every pleading or brief shall include a certificate of service. Such certificate of service shall be adequate proof of service. (18) Any pleading may be amended within ten (10) days of filing, unless a responsive pleading has already been filed, or at any time by leave of the commission. Parties shall be allowed ten (10) days from the date of filing in which to respond to an amended pleading unless otherwise ordered by the commission. (19) Any list of issues ordered by the commission must set out each question presented for decision. Each question presented should be clear and concise. AUTHORITY: section 386.410, RSMo 2000.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 240-2.080. Original rule filed Dec. 19, 1975, effective Dec. 29, 1975. Amended: Filed May 15, 1980, effective Sept. 12, 1980. Amended: Filed Nov. 7, 1984, effective June 15, 1985. Amended: Filed Sept. 6, 1985, effective Dec. 15, 1985. Amended: Filed Feb. 23, 1990, effective May 24, 1990. Rescinded and readopted: Filed March 10, 1995, effective Nov. 30, 1995. Rescinded and readopted: Filed Aug. 24, 1999, effective April 30, 2000. Amended: Filed Sept. 11, 2001, effective April 30, 2002. Amended: Filed May 21, 2002, effective Dec. 30, 2002. Amended: Filed March 2, 2011, effective Oct. 30, 2011. Moved to 20 CSR 4240-2.080, effective Aug. 28, 2019. *Original authority: 386.410, RSMo 1939, amended 1947, 1977, 1996.