Section 17061.

(a) In addition to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 413.10) of Title 5 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, process may be served upon limited liability companies and foreign limited liability companies as provided in this section.

(b) Personal service of a copy of any process against the limited liability company or the foreign limited liability company by delivery (1) to any individual designated by it as agent, or (2) if the designated agent is a corporation, to any person named in the latest certificate of the corporate agent filed pursuant to Section 1505 at the office of the corporate agent, shall constitute valid service on the limited liability company or the foreign limited liability company. No change in the address of the agent for service of process or appointment of a new agent for service of process shall be effective until an amendment to the statement described in Section 17060 is filed. In the case of a foreign limited liability company that has appointed the Secretary of State as agent for service of process by reason of subdivision (d) of Section 17456, process shall be delivered by hand to the Secretary of State, or to any person employed in the capacity of assistant or deputy, and shall include one copy of the process for each defendant to be served, together with a copy of the court order authorizing the service and the fee therefor. The order shall set forth the address to which the process shall be sent by the Secretary of State.

(c) (1) If an agent for service of process has resigned and has not been replaced or if the designated agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the address designated for personal delivery of the process, and it is shown by affidavit to the satisfaction of the court that process against a limited liability company or foreign limited liability company cannot be served with reasonable diligence upon the designated agent by hand in the manner provided in Section 415.10, subdivision (a) of Section 415.20, or subdivision (a) of Section 415.30 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court may make an order that the service shall be made upon a domestic limited liability company or upon a registered foreign limited liability company by delivering by hand to the Secretary of State, or to any person employed in the Secretary of State's office in the capacity of assistant or deputy, one copy of the process for each defendant to be served, together with a copy of the order authorizing the service. Service in this manner shall be deemed complete on the 10th day after delivery of the process to the Secretary of State.

(2) Upon receipt of the copy of process and the fee therefor, the Secretary of State shall give notice of the service of the process to the limited liability company or foreign limited liability company, at its principal executive office, by forwarding to that office, by registered mail with request for return receipt, the copy of the process.

(3) The Secretary of State shall keep a record of all process served upon the Secretary of State under this title and shall record therein the time of service and the action taken by the Secretary of State. A certificate under the Secretary of State's official seal, certifying to the receipt of process, the giving of notice to the limited liability company or foreign limited liability company, and the forwarding of the process pursuant to this section, shall be competent and prima facie evidence of the service of process.

(d) (1) The articles of organization of a limited liability company and the application for registration of a foreign limited liability company shall designate, as the agent for service of process, an individual residing in this state or a corporation that has complied with Section 1505 and whose capacity to act as an agent has not terminated. If an individual is designated, the statement shall set forth that person's complete business or residence address in this state.

(2) An agent designated for service of process may file with the Secretary of State a signed and acknowledged written statement of resignation as an agent. Upon filing of the statement of resignation, the authority of the agent to act in that capacity shall cease and the Secretary of State shall give written notice of the filing of the statement of resignation by mail to the limited liability company or foreign limited liability company addressed to its principal executive office.

(3) If an individual who has been designated agent for service of process dies or resigns or no longer resides in the state, or if the corporate agent for that purpose resigns, dissolves, withdraws from the state, forfeits its right to transact intrastate business, has its corporate rights, powers, and privileges suspended, or ceases to exist, the limited liability company or foreign limited liability company shall promptly file an initial or amended statement described in Section 17060 designating a new agent.

(e) In addition to any other discovery rights that may exist, in any case pending in a California court in which a party seeks records from a limited liability company formed under this title, whether or not the limited liability company is a party, the court may order the production in California of the books and records of the limited liability company on those terms and conditions that the court deems appropriate.

(f) A member may, in a written operating agreement or other writing, consent to be subject to the nonexclusive jurisdiction of the courts of a specified jurisdiction, or the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of this state.

(g) If a member desires to use the arbitration process, that member may, in a written operating agreement or other writing, consent to be nonexclusively subject to arbitration in a specified state, or to be exclusively subject to arbitration in this state.

(h) Along with the consent to the jurisdiction of courts or to be subject to arbitration as provided in subdivisions (f) and (g), a member may consent to be served with legal process in the manner prescribed in a written operating agreement or other writing.

(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 57, Sec. 9. Effective June 6, 1996. Repealed as of January 1, 2014, pursuant to Section 17657. Thereafter, see Title 2.6, commencing with Section 17701.01.)