Preparing Your Firm for California's SPARE Act: Everything You Need to Know

California rewrote the rules for service of process, and the compliance clock started January 1, 2027.

AB 747, the SPARE Act, replaced the "reasonable diligence" standard with something far more specific: a 3-3-3 attempt rule, date, time, GPS-stamped photo documentation, and a burden of proof that now falls on the plaintiff if service is challenged.

Jeff Karotkin, Senior Director of Court Filing & Service of Process at Steno, who worked with legislators on the bill's language and helped write the rules, walked attendees through what changed, what it meant for their case files, and how to get their firms ready before the exposure window opened.

What attendees walked away with:

• The new 3-3-3 diligence standard, and which case types it actually applies to
• What the GPS-stamped photo requirement means for proofs of service, and the built-in exceptions
• How the burden of proof shifts if a defendant challenges service
• A practical checklist for auditing process serving vendors before 1/1/2027

Meet Your Host

Jeff H. Karotkin, Senior Director, Court Filing & Service of Process, is a 30-year veteran of the process serving and court filing industry who worked directly with legislators and stakeholders on the language of AB 747 as it moved through the California Assembly and Senate — one of the few people in California litigation support who helped write the rules he's about to walk you through. Over his career he pioneered eFiling at One Legal, LLC, and built the first digital service of process platform in the industry. A former President of both CALSPro and NAPPS, he is also the author of Bloomberg Law's industry analysis of the SPARE Act.