What is Process Serving?
US Legal defines process serving as “a person authorized by law (or by a court) to formally deliver process such as summonses, complaints, subpoenas, writs and other court to a defendant or respondent.”
In other words, process servers are delivery drivers, but with legal documents!
Ditch the Pizza & the Petty Tips
Think of any delivery driver in the nation. What’s the first thing that pops into your head? Pizza. Second might be Lyft or Uber. Process servers are similar, but with a few differences:
- We deliver court papers so people are made aware of their presence in court
- We are a more credible industry, having been around since the creation of the U.S. constitution
- We follow stricter rules and procedures
- Our pay is much higher than delivery drivers, working by jobs served and not tips
Okay! But What is Process Serving Really?
“Serving” a document means letting an individual know they are needed to appear in court. Remember, learning the term due process back in grade school? Thanks to the Magna Carta written in 1215, the law states that the public must be made aware of claims being filed against them. This is called due process.
There are many rules and regulations as to why, how, and when people must be made aware of their court presence, but the main point is… they have to know! This is why process servers must make multiple “attempts” to let the person know they are being summoned to court.
Our industry seems almost secretive because of its lack of presence in the public eye. Process service is mainly a business to business (B2B) industry, meaning we very rarely cater our services to the public. Our clients are usually bigger collection companies or law firms that depend on Titanium and other process serving companies to serve court documents to the public.
Why Do People Get Served?
There are many reasons why people have to appear in court. Here are just a few reasons:
- Evictions
- Divorce or Alimony
- Child custody
- Debt collections
- Protection Orders
- Subpoenas (civil or criminal)
- Property damage
Because of due process, the defendants involved in the above court rulings must be made aware of what’s happening.
Breaking the Social Stigma of Process Serving
Because people do not usually like getting served, process service gets a bad rap. We are the bearer of bad news and tend to take a lot of heat from the public. The majority of documents being served are at people’s homes, so as you can imagine, process servers aren’t welcomed with open arms.
At Titanium Legal, we hire energetic, empathetic, entrepreneurial-minded Service Agents to get the job done. It is important for our Service Agents to represent our company in a professional and friendly manner. With hundreds of service agents in the PNW, we pride ourselves in being the best in the business!
|