A process server hands your office manager a thick envelope. Inside is a summons and a complaint with your company named as the defendant. The summons says you have 30 days to respond. Thirty days sounds like plenty. You have closed deals in less time. So the envelope goes in a drawer, or on the corner of the desk, until things slow down.
That instinct is the single most expensive mistake I see business owners make after they get sued. The 30 days is not a grace period. It is a deadline that has to absorb a surprising amount of work, and it starts running the moment you are served.
How long do you have to respond to a lawsuit in California?
In most California civil cases, a defendant who is personally served has 30 days to file a response with the court. That response is usually an answer, but it can also be a motion that challenges the complaint itself. The deadline is calendar days, not business days, and it does not pause for weekends, holidays, or the fact that your regular attorney is on vacation.
There are wrinkles. Service by other methods can change the timeline. Some courts and case types run differently. A defendant can sometimes get an extension by agreement with the other side or by motion. But none of that is something you want to be researching on day 28. The safe assumption is simple: you have 30 days, and you should treat the first week as the most valuable one.
Why 30 days is less time than it sounds
The deadline feels generous because most people picture a single task: write a response. The reality is a sequence of tasks, and each one depends on the last.
First, someone has to actually read the complaint and understand what is being claimed, which causes of action are pleaded, and what the other side says you did. Then the relevant documents have to be gathered. In a contract dispute that means the agreement, the change orders, the invoices, the payment records, and the email chain where everyone was still being polite. For a business that runs on shared drives and three different inboxes, that collection alone can eat a week.
Next comes the legal analysis. A good response is not a denial of everything. It identifies which allegations to admit, which to deny, and which affirmative defenses apply. Done well, this is where cases start to turn.
Then there is a question most owners never think about until it is too late: do you have your own claims? If the party suing you also breached the contract, failed to pay, or damaged your business, you may need to file a cross-complaint. That has its own timing rules, and the cleanest moment to raise it is with your initial response, not months later.
By the time you sequence all of that, a calm 30 days has become a tight one.
The insurance notice problem
Here is a step that quietly destroys defenses. Many business policies, including general liability and certain professional and management policies, require you to notify the insurer promptly when a claim is made. Wait too long and the carrier can deny coverage for late notice, even when the underlying claim would have been covered.
So the lawsuit you assumed your insurance would handle becomes a lawsuit you are funding out of operating cash, purely because the notice went out three weeks late. After 25 years handling business disputes, I can tell you this is one of the most avoidable losses there is, and it has nothing to do with the merits of the case.
What happens if you miss the deadline
If you do not respond within the time allowed, the other side can ask the court to enter your default. A default means the court can proceed toward a judgment against your business without hearing your side at all. The plaintiff submits their numbers, and a judgment can be entered for the amount they claim, plus interest and costs.
Setting aside a default is possible in some situations, but it is an uphill motion, it costs money, and it is never guaranteed. You are now spending time and legal fees just to get back to the starting line you could have held by acting in week one. Worse, a judgment can support wage garnishments, bank levies, and liens against business assets while you fight to undo it.
What to do in the first week
The right response to being served is not panic, and it is not the drawer. It is a short, deliberate sequence.
Write down the exact date and method of service. That date sets your deadline, so get it right.
Preserve everything. Do not delete emails, texts, or files related to the dispute, and tell your team the same. Destroying records, even routine ones, creates a separate and serious problem.
Locate your insurance policies and put the carrier on notice, or have counsel do it, right away.
Get the complaint in front of a business litigation attorney early enough that there is time to build a real defense, not just file a placeholder.
The owners who come out of lawsuits in the best position are almost never the ones with the strongest facts. They are the ones who started while the clock was still on their side.
Talk to an attorney before the clock runs out
If your California business has been served with a lawsuit, the most important decision you make is how fast you move. Getting counsel involved in the first days preserves options that simply disappear later. Contact the Law Offices of Scott D. Wu at (626) 799-1858 to discuss your situation and protect your position while there is still time to do it right.