Employee Post: Common Misconceptions About Process Service

Whenever anyone asks about what I do when process serving, the typical reactions are either strangely fearful or delight because of what they’ve seen on TV or the movies.

Process servers have a reputation as bringers of bad news, and oftentimes that is the case.  Most of the time when I show up on someone’s doorstep or place of employment it’s to deliver court documents related to non-payment of some kind or notification of a pending family matter.  It’s important to note that as the process server, I am not a party to the action detailed in the packet of papers I’m delivering, I am just the messenger.  We can try to run from the bad news, but it finds us eventually, and when it does, if it took a lot of effort on the parts of investigators and process servers that cost is usually passed on to the individual being sought out.  What starts as a small fee can easily skyrocket to hundreds of dollars, sometimes even costing more than the amount owed in the first place.

What most people don’t realize, is that the role of the process server is to fulfill your constitutional right to due process.  The information in the papers being served doesn’t just go away because we refuse to answer the door when a process server arrives on our doorstep, instead we are left without knowledge the opposing party has and is trying to pass onto us.  Process servers exist as an impartial third party that has been tasked with delivering information important to your case into your hands in a respectful and documentable manner.  Should you choose to avoid service, service can still be made, but in a more public and embarrassing manner such as posting in newspapers and on your front door.

TV hasn’t helped the image of process servers much.  A recent movie, “Pineapple Express” showed the main character playing dress-up to sneak into places and trick the individual into being served.  While this is entertaining, and is fun for process servers to joke about, the reality is much more subtle and boring.  When we get a service address we attempt to make contact by simply approaching the front-door and knocking.  I never hide who I am and why I’m there, the most exciting thing that happens is when I see a light inside and I go around the house to investigate.  This part can sometimes be scary for the process server, especially at night, because there is no way for us to know what a paranoid service subject could do, but it is important to us to know that we’ve made our best effort to make conduct since we are accountable to the court when we declare a person not able to be found.

So if you find yourself with a process server on your doorstep, remember that they aren’t the enemy.  They are there to make sure you get important information.  If you are looking to hire a process server, be comforted by the fact that most of us will do it in a respectful manner.