^ That sounds about right. I have a basic summons and a complaint, but no court date.

...Well i missed the 20 days.

1) Should I still send a NOA? (The plaintiff's attorney is far away so I have to mail it.)
2) I still don't understand at what point the plaintiff's attorney will specify how much he's seeking in attorney's fees.
3) The attorney's fees are what I'm most worried about. I'm not excited to pay $2,000 for them to file a couple pieces of paper. Will I have (or would I have if I'd replied sooner) any opportunity to dispute the amount? And how would I do that?

Thanks so much for all this info. This is not the first time I've been through this and for the record it is not actually me being sued, so while i understand that prevention is the best thing, I would like very much to gain a better understanding of this process and my options to be of more help when friends or family find themselves in this situation.