Why You Should Hire a Process Server and Not Attempt to Serve Yourself
When you find yourself in a legal bind, it is very important that every detail is buttoned up nice and tight to make sure that there is no way that somebody can sneak away from their responsibilities.
For instance, if you have been affected by fraud in your business against a partner, then you will have to make sure that you are compensated and can’t take chances they will get away because of a technicality. It is a good idea to have fidelity insurance as well, but the fact remains that there are too many ways for this to go badly if you decide to serve papers for a legal action yourself.
In this article, we will go over why you should hire a process server to avoid a costly mistake.
What is a process server?
A process server is a professional who is entrusted to serve legal documents to a recipient named in a legal action. Since they are an unbiased third party, they will document the time, date, and whereabouts that the papers were served so it can be confirmed that the recipient was actually given the papers.
Unfortunately, many recipients have very good reason to lie and say they never got served. A third party can verify this as a lie and it holds up in court. There are lots of other services a server can provide that helps as well.
For instance, you may not even know where the recipient is located so the process servers can use their resources to track them down. They may also be tasked with making a video recording with timestamps of when the papers were served for use as an ironclad affidavit to bring to court.
When to use a process server
There are a lot of common legal cases in which people will need to be served papers to appear in court. The most common ones are when they are for divorce petitions in which one party is finding out that they are due in court. Another very common instance is when there are bankruptcy and winding-up petitions.
In the instance cited in the introduction, it is very commonplace to serve up papers to a business partner that owes you money and doesn’t want to be found to pay it back. In this case, it is very wise to make sure that you are not trying to serve papers yourself as they can easily say that they were never served the papers. At that point, it is their word against yours that the pacers were served and you won’t have much recourse to proceed if they don’t show up for court.
How to hire a process server
Word of mouth is a good way to find a process server so asking your solicitor is a good first step. If they don’t know one then a quick internet search will turn up many. Make sure to read the reviews to find ones that seem to have a consistent and professional attitude. Also, it is very important to find one that uses a hidden camera to record the process so it holds up easier in front of a magistrate.
