Process Server Solutions: Do You Know Your Process Server?

Service of process is an essential step in commencing a civil lawsuit. In fact, service of process is so essential in a lawsuit that, if it is not performed properly and the affidavit of service is not correctly executed, a lawsuit cannot proceed. Service of process is critical because:

• it establishes that the court hearing the lawsuit has jurisdiction over the defendant.
• it notifies the defendant that the plaintiff is bringing a lawsuit and that the courts will hear the impending lawsuit.

Understanding the importance and weight of a service of process is essential to the outcome of a lawsuit. Knowing the process server, the person who delivers the notice of a lawsuit, to the parties required by law, is imperative. Under the federal rules, any person who is not a party to the lawsuit and is at least 18 years of age can effect proper service. Is this enough to ensure the proper service of process on your defendants?
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At Associated Services we strongly believe it is not enough. Times and again we have helped law firms and private individuals “repair” the harm done by other people who have attempted service or have failed to execute the affidavit properly.

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  Here are a couple of examples:

• we recently were approached by Vicki, a paralegal, who asked for our help in serving a subpoena for appearance on an individual. The subpoena has already been attempted by the court itself with no result. Vicki asked us to locate and confirm where the person lived, and then try and execute the service. All this she needed completed within a couple of days. Our office investigators were quickly able to locate and confirm the residence of the person to be served. Then our process server took the subpoena and made attempts at service only to find out that the person was avoiding service. Our process server did not get discouraged and closely followed the instructions of the office. The server continued to make attempts and on one occasion late in the evening, the defendant finally opened the door. He was successfully personally served where the court could not even locate him before.

• Wendy is a landlord, dealing with tenants on a daily basis. Sometimes, due to non-payment or other issues, landlords must notify and/or evict their tenants in a formal way by commencing a lawsuit. Wendy had trouble with one of her tenants, and independently she filed a civil action with the court. She then proceeded to have a friend serve the tenant and filed an affidavit with the court. Wendy did follow the federal rules and had a friend who was not a party to the action serve the papers. The friend executed an affidavit of service and Wendy filed it. So what went wrong when Wendy called us urgently to try and serve the papers again and “save” her case? According to the court, the affidavit was not properly filled out and executed. Our office immediately took the case, properly served the tenant again, and executed an affidavit that the court accepted. Wendy was happy that her case did not fall through, and we were happy to help her.

Though it may seem simple, service of process is not easy to perform and execute, particularly when defendants are avoiding service or affidavits are not properly done. At Associated Services we take pride in what we do, and our many years of experience have given us the knowledge and confidence to solve your problems, to find and serve difficult to serve people, and to never fail to produce affidavits that are done according to the rules of the court.

​Let us help you with your service of process to any zip code in the United States.

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