What action may the court take if service was defective and deadlines passed?

• A. The court may reopen deadlines
• B. The court must dismiss automatically
• C. The court must grant default judgment
• D. The court ignores the issue

Answer: (A)

When service of process is defective and the deadline has passed, the court has discretion to reopen or extend the time limits to fix the service issue and allow the case to proceed. This relief helps ensure due process by letting the party correct a technical mistake rather than lose the case automatically. It’s not an automatic outcome—courts don’t have to dismiss or grant a default judgment just because service was defective—and the court won’t ignore the issue. Reopening the deadlines is the appropriate measure to cure the defect and move forward.