Frank Parlato
Still No Rule 4(d)
It’s been more than a week since Christopher Ambrose told me he had sent a Rule 4(d) waiver packet “more than 30 days ago.” He has yet to produce proof.
What he did send—on Sept. 7—was not a packet. It was a copy of his First Amended Complaint, stripped of the forms and notices that make a waiver request real under federal rules.
The law is simple: if a plaintiff wants to avoid the cost of serving a defendant, Rule 4(d) gives them a path. But it requires paperwork—AO 398, AO 399, the complaint, the warning notice, and proof of transmission. Ambrose has produced none of it.
My Latest Response
I wrote him again.
I told him I am willing to waive service—if he sends a proper Rule 4(d) packet. No packet, no waiver. If he prefers to send a process server to Big Pine Key, so be it.
The choice is his. He can send the forms, or he can pay for a process server.
The Litigation Queen
Ambrose has turned lawsuits into his life work.
He sued his ex-wife, his son’s godmother, his two brothers, a blogger, a psychiatrist, and myself – a journalist. He is trying hard right now to have his ex wife arrested.
For me, this is the second time he sued me. Back in 2022 he sued me for defamation in Connecticutt state court. I yanked it from state court to federal; the judge said my removal was timely because Ambrose never actually served me, and then His Litigious Highness went radio silent.
He begged for extensions to answer my motion to dismiss and still filed nothing. After two years, on May 29, 2024, Judge Michael P. Shea did what courts do when a plaintiff won’t show up: dismissed the case for failure to prosecute.
No discovery. No depositions. Just a plaintiff who files a complaint but couldn’t be bothered to answer my motion to dismiss his own lawsuit.
Now we are in round 2. This time, he can’t seem to manage properly serving the complaint.
Why This Might Matter
Ambrose went to law school at NYU. He practiced law. He was suspended. He was a TV screenwriter, writing shows about the law. He was caught in a plagiarism scandal in 2018 and torpedoed his otherwise successful TV writing career.
With all his lawsuits and his background, he should understand how Rule 4(d) works.
Yet here we are: still waiting for a packet that never comes.
The Record So Far
- Sept. 2: Ambrose emails me, asking me to waive service by email.
- Sept. 3: I reply: “Send a proper Rule 4(d) packet.”
- Sept. 3 (later): Ambrose claims he already sent one 30+ days ago.
- Sept. 4: I ask for proof.
- Sept. 7: He sends only a complaint, missing all required forms.
- Sept. 18: Still nothing.
The Sheriff Came Calling
Last week, Ambrose sent a Monroe County Florida deputy sheriff to my house to serve me. I wasn’t there. I am away on business.
If Ambrose wants to keep trying personal service, he’s welcome to pay for more deputies to knock on the door. He can also wait until I return and serve me then. The rule in Connecticut for defamation lawsuits is in-person service or court-approved alternative – or a simple Rule 4(d) waiver.
He could have avoided this. He could have gotten me on record with a Rule 4(d) waiver. That would have given me 60 days to answer, given him a clean record with the judge, and saved him money.
Instead, he’s paying deputy sheriffs while refusing to send the actual forms.
Service: The Starter Pistol
Every lawsuit starts with service of process. It’s not a courtesy. It’s the law. Service means this: the plaintiff (Ambrose) must hand the defendant (me) the papers — the summons and the complaint — so the defendant can’t say they never knew. It’s due process.
Service of process goes back thousands of years.
- Ancient Roots: In Roman law, you couldn’t haul someone into court unless you first gave them notice (in ius vocatio).
- English Common Law: By the 1300s–1400s, English courts required the sheriff to literally go out and “summon” the defendant. If the sheriff couldn’t find him, cases stalled. This “writ and summons” practice is the ancestor of today’s service rules.
- Colonial America: The early colonies copied English procedure — service by sheriff or marshal, sometimes by public notice if the person couldn’t be found.
- Modern U.S. Law: When the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were adopted in 1938, Rule 4 standardized service in federal cases. In 1993, Rule 4(d) added the “waiver” option — mail (or now email) it is a way to avoid wasting sheriffs on people who are willing to accept papers.
Without service or process, courts can’t claim jurisdiction over you. The waiver by mail/email part is newer — you can’t be judged until you’ve been served — is as old as Magna Carta.
Here is a little legal jargon history.
- “Service” is the act of formally delivering legal papers to another party. You’ll hear lawyers say: “Have they been served?”
- “Process” is the old-fashioned word for the initial court documents — the summons, writ, or complaint that “processes” the defendant into the court system. It comes from English common law. A “writ of process” was the official paper commanding someone to appear.
- “Service of process” literally means delivering the official court papers that start the legal process.
Process is the paper; service is the deliver.
Ambrose Has the Next Move
Ambrose, the man who sues everyone but can’t serve anyone, got another offer from me.
I told him:
- Email me the file-stamped complaint.
- Confirm, in writing, that I have 60 days from that email to answer.
If he insists on paperwork, I gave him the Rule 4(d) option: send me AO 398 and AO 399, and I’ll sign. Same result—60 days. Either way, he wins on service. I win on convenience. Everybody saves time.
Unless, of course, Ambrose refuses.
The Clock Is Ticking
Ambrose’s complaint isn’t new anymore. He filed it on July 17. Under Rule 4(m) he has 90 days to serve me — the deadline is October 15, 2025. If there’s no proof of service by October 22, the case is subject to dismissal.
He has less than a month left.
This isn’t about evading a lawsuit. I want to defend it. However, I won’t pretend he followed the rules when he didn’t.
The record shows: I offered him email service with 60 days on the clock. If he takes it, I’ll respond. If he doesn’t, he can keep paying deputies to knock on my house in Big Pine Key.
And when October 15 comes and goes, I’ll make a motion to dismiss and he can start all over again.
Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.
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Is the Albino Toolbag pro se?
And ChatGpt aided?
My guess, numb-nuts is representing himself.
So simple, yet so impactful. Well written!
I was once served in a civil suit at an address where I no longer resided, and the plaintiff knew it. It’s a slimy method occasionally employed by unscrupulous parties to procure a default judgment. Judgment vacated, case dismissed with prejudice. I was nine-tenths of the way to having the plaintiff’s attorney disbarred for numerous violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct when he died on me. Karma’s a b*tch, as they say.
I am still perplexed as to why Riordan stayed married to Ambrose for so long if they never consummated the marriage.
It’s not a traditional marriage. I’m sure it was a marriage of convince. The terms of the agreement because void when Chris was fired. The kids become a financial bargaining chip. Chris made the false assumption that Karen would roll over when he gained control. The kids fought, Karen fought, one unlucky attorney fought.
She was loyal and believed him when he said it was anxiety and then a medical condition “venous leakage”- she asked for a divorce before he was fired for plagiarism bc of his lies and mistreatment
Ambrose is vindictive. Always unpopular loner coward. Nothing like his brother Neil who is great and fun and kind. He sues to stress people out and send them to the poorhouse. He’s a licensed attorney and it costs him nothing to file motion after motion Parents gave him everything Mother doted on him
He has no life; never did He has all the time in the world to plot his attacks and manufacture evidence to convince a courtroom audience that he is a victim
Look at dockets game so obvious He dragged others through court – like Parlato and the godmother without filing what he was ordered to file.
He knew he was being evasive but submitted pages upon pages of motions forcing their attorneys to read and respond to be which resulted in an excess of billable hours based on his bs – even though the cases were dismissed, the damage of stress and financial strain in attorney fees was accomplished Ambrose thrives on this bc he cannot look in the mirror at the incredible loser that he is and had been given every opportunity by Christian parents
He’s 66 he destroyed his marriage, stole assets from FOX, plagiarized and destroyed what was left of a languishing career, and has made happy children miserable – and subjected them to unrelenting lies and trauma just like he’s done to many in his path
Threw away expensive Wesleyan and NYU education! Both brothers having thriving careers and great relationships with their kids – only the oldest and ugliest has failed at life
So he’s suing them too to steal every penny of his parents money Signs of narcissism
Glastonbury is not concerned with any of the information. Glastonbury is concerned with domination of legislation. Painting a picture that 50/50 legislation is the answer to all the worlds problems. Explain away the loss of life as the responsibility of the judge. If only the attorneys like Ma. Cunha would shut up and split custody, obsolve parents of child support and let the father maintain control. Glastonbury has already weighed in on the conversation posted on the internet by Antar. If the judges orders 50)50 custody the children would be fine. Glastonbury is not interested in what happens behind close doors effecting children. Mark, Robert, Glastonbury and the gang down play these situations. It’s just a bunch of women like Karen making a big deal out of nothing. Glastonbury believes abuse doesn’t exist. The government should ignore complaints about child welfare because of constitutional rights. Glastonbury is one of the biggest reasons why the state of Connecticut is so bad. If you have had a conversation with Glastonbury the minute you don’t fall in line with his mentality, he flips on a dime.
Did he miss the lesson – if you love someone let them go???
Treating his teens like property – his actions prove Dr Lee’s diagnosis. Well done idiot
In a prior article you told him you’d be away on business and to use the method (4d) which he alleged he had already done Why the obsession with and need to call the police?
He has Madison CT cops on speed dial. He’s obsessed with cops and believes he’s “one of them” Madison cops finally saw his game but they were already in really deep covering for his abuse and lies
He has them on payroll- pays to have Madison police “escort” him to harass his daughter at her job and his kids and ex-wife at her home
He’s totally obsessed and unstable.
Everything out of his mouth is a lie and he know what to say to force dcf, police and schools to take action when none is warranted.