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Frequently Asked

Questions

PROCESS SERVER

United States legal procedure requires that each party to a case should be notified if actions are taken against them in a court of law. Process serving is an important aspect of our legal system. Individuals are notified of actions against them or pending court procedures involving them through the delivery of legal documents such as summons, complaints, subpoenas, orders, motions, writs, etc.
This legal process of service is when the documents are served on a family member over a certain age who resides in the same household, or with a management level employee at their place of business. There are also circumstances when posting in a prominent place followed up by mailing a copy of the documents is an accepted method of service.
Hiring a Private Process Server is a very important step in proceeding with any court action. Process servers have the skills and expertise to serve your legal documents in timely manner and, most importantly, serve them in accordance with the local and state process serving laws and judicial rules. There are several key requirements associated with the rules of service of process. In some states you cannot serve on Sundays or holidays. Some jurisdictions do not allow legal documents to be served on a person traveling to court. It is also very important to note that court documents cannot be served by someone who is a party to the case or legal proceeding. If service is not done in accordance with these rules, this can hinder your case from going forward or result in the dismissal of your case. Improper service may also cause undue delays which may affect court fees, and attorney’s fees. If you are serious about your case, you will want to have the legal documents served properly. Paying a professional process server a nominal fee can save your case.

When service of process first began, it was performed by sheriffs or deputies, and agents of the court. This became a burden on law enforcement throughout the country, so the legislation was changed. Now, in many states, any US citizen that is not a party to the case, over the age of 18, and residing in the state where the matter is to be tried can serve papers. Keep in mind that process serving laws differ from state to state and may change. It is important to refer to the State Rules of Civil Procedure to learn more about service of process in your state. Here at LawServePro we ensure the highest rate of success through the use of our highly skilled and certified process servers rather than the sheriff.

By using a local process server, you are dealing directly with the company who is going to be serving the legal documents that you provide. You will save valuable time and money, and be able to communicate efficiently regarding your assignments should you have any questions regarding the status. Additionally, all of our professional process servers are trained, courteous, professional, and have at least three years of process serving experience. By choosing LawServePro you have the peace of mind knowing that your important legal matter is being handled by the most experienced professionals in the industry.

A private process server delivers (serves) legal documents to the defendant, individual, or entity (corporation) listed on the legal document being served. Once the documents are delivered and service is perfected, an Affidavit of Service, also commonly called a Proof of Service, is completed and emailed to the party who requested the service so it can be filed with the court. For an additional fee, the Affidavit of Service can be notarized and the original mailed.
Yes, private process servers routinely file affidavits of service and other legal documents with the court for an additional fee. Please contact us about your specific needs.
Often times, the recipient doesn’t have to accept service in order for it to be considered effective. If the defendant comes to the door but then refuses to take the papers in hand, the process server may leave the papers at their feet and walk away. It’s very important to refer to local service of process laws in your area as they may vary from state to state.
If the named party in the documents cannot be located, the court of jurisdiction may permit service by publication in a newspaper or by mail. Often times, the court may request that a reasonable attempt be made to actually serve the defendant or the person named before permission is granted to allow service by publication. This is why it is very important to hire a professional process server who is familiar with local rules and regulation in the jurisdiction where the case is located. In some states such as New Jersey “Substitute Service” on a family member over the age of 14 who resides in the same household is acceptable. Substitute Service should be done as a last resort and shown as part of the due diligence process. Always refer to the rules of civil procedure in your state to ensure compliance with local rules and regulations.
We serve a wide variety of court and legal documents related to municipal, local, state, and federal court cases. We also serve notices and letters that will later become part of a legal case. We facilitate all types of service regardless of the complexity. We can serve documents anywhere in the United States. Common documents we frequently serve are Summons, Complaints, Writs and Subpoenas for members of the legal community and individuals throughout the United States.
The time it takes to serve an individual or business depends on a number of factors: How easy the person is to locate; if it is a business, has the business moved or is there someone available to accept service; is substitute service permitted. We frequently need to make multiple attempts due to the fact that the person being served may be at work or not at home. Unfortunately, we can not force someone to open the door and we are not permitted to force entry. Our turnaround time for service is between 3 and 5 business days. Once we receive the documents to be served, they go out to our certified process servers immediately.
We also offer skip trace investigation services, which can help locate a new address or other contact information for the individual. We use various databases that are available in an investigative fashion. These databases are highly secured, available only to pre-screened process servers, attorneys, investigators, and similar individuals. These secured databases are not available to the public. The comprehensiveness and accuracy is extremely high but still require special investigators to evaluate the data. Depending on the circumstances, even the most thorough and in depth search isn’t fruitful. If this happens to be the case, we will work with you and discuss other available options.

As soon as service has been completed, an automated notification that service has been completed will be sent via email. This notification will include GPS, date and time stamp information relative to the assignment. We will also send you an affidavit of service that must be filed with the court where your court case is located. We can also provide a notarized affidavit upon request for a small additional fee. Upon request, we will file your affidavit of service with the court. All affidavits are compliant with the court in which your matter will be heard. This is an official document that reflects that the person has been served. If we are unable to serve a subject after multiple attempts, we will send you an Affidavit of Non-Service listing all attempts made to show that a diligent effort was made to complete the service. This Affidavit of Non-Service should also be filed with the court.

LawServePro specializes in rush and on-demand service. If you need a document served to a business or residence, we can make our first attempt within hours of receiving the documents for an additional fee. Contact us now for more information.

DOCUMENT RETRIEVAL

Here at LawServePro, we can work with you to locate and retrieve most official court filings in all jurisdictions. We work with all State, Federal and Bankruptcy Courts. We can perform searches in all jurisdictions nationwide, including municipal, local, state, and federal courts. We can also retrieve documents from law libraries, Secretary of State offices, recorders of deeds offices, and both State and Federal archives. Our highly trained staff is ready to get you exactly what you need. Contact us today and let us help!

Our dedicated staff can help locate documents in many jurisdictions. If you don’t know exactly where the document you need are located, we can use proprietary databases to locate it for you.
Several important factors play into this – Where is the court where these documents are located, the size of the file, age of the file, and the condition of the file. We are familiar with archives and can provide you the location, accession number and box number. Once we receive your request we can provide you with a better idea as far as how long your document retrieval will take by understanding more about your individual situation.
Not to worry. If there are fees associated with retrieving the documents where they are housed, our staff can advance those fees for you. Upon completion of your document retrieval, we can invoice you for the fees.

SKIP TRACING

Here at LawServePro, our goal is to serve the documents to the target individual or business you specify. One benefit to hiring us to serve your documents is that if we identify that the address of the initial service is a bad address, we will perform a skip trace investigation free of charge provided that you hire us for the second service. We will reach out to you to advise you that the address you have provided is not good and discuss your different options and obtain additional information. If you do not have an address at all, a skip trace investigation is an extra service that we can provide. In the event that we were not able to locate the target individual or business, we would contact you to discuss options available.

Here at LawServePro, we have access to a wide array of state-of-the art informational databases, including court records, phone records, libraries and post office records. The collection of information is done by using our state of the art technology. If the information exists, we will find it.

Although very rare, sometimes we cannot find the information you require utilizing the resources we have available. If this occurs, we will contact you to discuss available options.
The amount of time it takes to complete a skip trace investigation depends on whether the information you’re needing is easy to find using our state of the art technology and databases. Frequently, we can complete a skip trace investigation within 48 hours of receiving the request for service.

Stake Out Service

When a process server is looking for an individual that is rarely home, not easily found, or is evading service, they may perform a stakeout.

A stakeout is the surveillance of a residential or commercial location in anticipation of the evasive individual to arrive, so the process server can deliver the legal documents. A stakeout can be a long and boring job, just sitting in the car watching for the person. The server cannot read a book, play on their phone, or any other distracting activity because they could miss the person they are looking to serve.

A stakeout may consist of hours of boredom interrupted by a few moments of a flurry of activity. It can be done to either learn the routine of the individual or to serve the documents if the opportunity arises. In movies, a stakeout seems to last only a couple of minutes. That’s because it would be too uneventful if the movie showed someone sitting in their car for an entire 2 hours. Once the individual arrives, the process server must move quickly to intercept the individual, verify their identity, and hand them the legal documents. But again, even a stakeout is not always an easy task.

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