What is Process Serving?

Process Serving is serving documents such as Summonses, Statement of Complaints, Plaintiff’s Claims, Writs, Subpoenas, and other documents directly to the (or a) party named on the summons, complaint or petition.  In most lawsuits in the United States, personal service is required to prove service. Most states allow substituted service in almost all lawsuits unless you are serving a corporation, LLC, LLP, or other business entity; in those cases, personal service must be achieved by serving in hand the documents to the “Registered Agent” of a business entity.

The process server is delivering documents that usually gives legal notice to a party (usually the defendant) requiring them to respond to proceedings scheduled to be held before a court, government body, or tribunal.  Notice is usually provided by presenting the party in question with court documents such as Summonses, Statements of Claim, Plaintiff’s Claims, etc.

In most other states, the documents must be visible to the person being served, i.e., not in a sealed envelope. If the individual refuses to accept service, flees, closes the door, etc., and the individual has been positively identified as the person to be served, the documents may be “drop served” (placed as close to the individual as possible); this is considered a valid service.  Personal service of process has been the hallmark for initiating litigation for nearly 100 years, primarily because it guarantees actual notice to a defendant of a legal action against him or her. Personal service of process remains the most reliable and efficacious way to both ensure compliance with constitutionally imposed due process requirements of notice to a defendant and the opportunity to be heard.

In most legal systems the service of process is effectuated by a process server, usually an adult and a disinterested party in the litigation. Some jurisdictions require or permit process to be served by a court official, such as a sheriff, marshal, constable or bailiff. There is often licensing requirements for private process servers.

Lafayette Process Servers is based in Lafayette, La under George Knox attorney at Law and has been doing process serving for more than 15 years.  He covers Louisiana areas from Lake Charles all the way to Lafayette and Baton Rouge.