Legal battles and lawsuits have become a fact of life, leading people across the country to need service of process. Service of process is the act of providing the defendant in a legal case with the proper paperwork notifying him that action is being taken against him and he must defend himself. Given that many people don’t want to be served, this can be a tricky task, to say the least.
Process servers have been known to exercise extreme patience, risk, and determination to serve papers to people who would rather avoid their paperwork than receive it. In the words of one process server: “During the course of this career I ducked two punches, got called any and every name in the book, and actually got thanked a very small number of times.”
Anger
The most common reaction to a process server is anger. Not too many people look forward to receiving the papers informing them that someone is after their bank account or filing for divorce. Some people confuse the process server with the actual person responsible for the lawsuit and even attempt physical violence or make nasty threats. “Don’t shoot the messenger” isn’t always advice well abided by.
Tears
Rather than anger, many people break down into tears and lament the difficult situation this lawsuit causes. Divorce is always a cause for troubling emotions, but others are either surprised by a lawsuit or have no idea how to handle it. Process servers are commonly asked to be a shoulder to cry on or a source of advice.
Evasion
Many, many people do their best to avoid receiving papers altogether. Some will bolt out the back door when they realize a process server is knocking out front. Others simply refuse to answer the door, and some have already moved without leaving a new address and are harder to trace. This is often where process servers need to use their wits to determine the best strategy to find someone who doesn’t want to be found. Many process servers have been known to use clever schemes in order to get the job done – all in the name of keeping the court system running smoothly!
