by Nelson Tucker,
M.P.S.
CEO, Process Service
Network
This is not an indictment of your
process server, but rather, is intended to help you help your process server do
a more effective job for your firm. Please
allow me to explain.
Many process servers are highly
trained, capable and effective – some are not!
You know if you have a good one based on their performance. All of us who provide legal support services
can always use additional training and acquiring of new resources. Finding the additional training and on-going
education can be difficult for some process servers to find. Here are some helpful tips that you can pass
along to your process server.
Develop creative ways to get people served – the days of simply
knocking on the front door of a defendant or witness and expecting them to open
the portal and accept the documents are a thing of the past. People have become more cynical of a stranger
at the door, especially at night. Some techniques utilized by many process
servers include:
·
Wearing their ID card in a lanyard around their
neck – people inside the residence may peek through a window or peephole and
see what appears to be identification and will be more likely to open the door;
·
Displaying their process server badge (in states
where allowed) when a person inside looks out to see who is at the door;
·
Leaving a “Notice” on the front door of the
residence if persons inside do not respond after knocking. Process Service Network developed
a notice that advises the defendant that they have 24 hours to contact the
process server to make arrangements for service or legal consequences may
follow. The result is an 89% call-in
rate and 100% service completion. We are
pleased to share the notice with interested parties;
·
Include a special notice, with the appropriate
laws of the state where service is being made, on top of the service
documents. This one-page notice
describes the optional methods of service (substituted service, posting,
service by publication, etc.) and educates the person being served that
personal service may not be the exclusive method of service. This is especially effective when performing
a substituted service;
·
If serving a defendant at work, call them while
outside in the parking lot and advise that you are a process server, that you
have legal documents for them, and you do not wish to cause them embarrassment
by serving them at work. One hundred
percent of the defendants will either come outside to accept or direct you to the
reception area where they will meet to accept the documents.
Serve people the way you would expect to be served – the movies and
TV have always portrayed process servers as villains who slap a subpoena on the
chest of a witness and proclaim, “You’ve been served!” Bad idea.
It has been said that you can catch more flies with honey than with
vinegar. True. You can serve more people
with kindness than with rudeness. The
question a process server should ask themselves is “How would I like to be
served if someone were serving me?” The
answer is with dignity and professionalism.
No doubt, your process server is
proficient in modern techniques and current laws. These suggestions can only make him or her
more efficient.
If we can assist with hard-to-serve
cases domestically or international services anywhere in the world, please
contact us at nelson@processnet1.com
.
Nelson Tucker is CEO of Process Service Network,
LLC in the Los Angeles area where his firm has provided legal support services
since 1978. He has authored 3 books on
service of process and has personally trained over 1700 process servers and
investigators nationwide. Nelson may be
reached by email at nelson@processnet.com or by visiting his website at www.processnet1.com . He
is active with the American Bar Association, Los Angeles County Bar
Association, Ventura County Bar Association, and the Los Angeles World Affairs
Council.
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