Why do people use professional process servers to begin with?
The main use of process servers and the process serving itself has to do with a court legal definition of due process…
When you look back at that sentence, it might seem kind of confusing, but our clients understand exactly why people hire professional process servers. For people who aren’t as familiar with the idea, it basically goes like this – the court considers that for due process to be accommodated, someone has to actually have knowledge that a case is being brought against them. It’s not enough to just send a letter in the mail, because that letter might get lost, and there are many different scenarios where the person will never see it. At the same time, it’s not considered proper to call someone and inform them about the court proceeding.
So the idea of process serving was born. Professional process servers find someone and hand-deliver the papers, so that they can prove that the person was notified before the court process moves forward.
Cutting Corners in Process Serving: Don’t Do It!
The other reason that law firms hire a professional process serving company is that improper process serving can be a huge problem.
Did you hear the one about the attorney who casually walked into someone’s property and delivered papers only to be charged legally with trespassing?
One way that we explain it to clients and others is that professional process servers understand civil procedure. They know the law of the land. They know the context of what they’re doing, and how to do it legally.
Another kind of cutting corners in process serving has to do with not following the specific protocols for notifying someone by serving them papers. These are big red flags that the law firm is not being conscientious about its work.
Different Scenarios
Why are people selected for being served papers?
Some of these are family law issues, while others have to do with various kinds of criminal charges.
Others have to do with housing. Eviction notices are part of what we handle for our clients, as are mortgage foreclosure process papers.
Here again, the process is very charged, because the person who is being served often wants to avoid getting the papers. There is often quite a lot of conflict in a housing process like eviction, and parties are going to fight tooth and nail for their best interests. That may include actively avoiding process servers.
So, as they say in the industry, process servers have to be patient and professional. They have to know the tricks of the trade and be able to employ them to get results.
Check the rest of the blog for more on how we assist law offices with quality process serving in the Whitestone, NY area.