The Ugly Side of Process Serving

What a lot of people in the judicial system refrain from discussing is what occurs when you are trying to serve papers to a defendant who is evading service and ultimately, what occurs when said defendant decides to act irrationally when being served these court papers.

I recently had the experience of serving papers to a defendant who was very actively evading service. It was my second attempt at reaching this defendant when I finally came in contact. My first attempt was unsuccessful, and due to this defendant’s actions, I felt comfortable assuming he was actively avoiding me. The client requested that I serve the defendant via means of personal service, which means that I must hand the documents directly to the defendant.

I approached the address I was provided for this defendant, walked through an open gate, and was immediately told by men across the lawn that I had to exit the property and ring the bell on the call box. I complied, and walked back out to said callbox, which then notified me that the “number did not exist.” This meant that the callbox was useless. I walked back toward the men and stated what the callbox had informed me of and asked to knock on the door. The men told me I could not approach the house and that I was not allowed to be there at all.

When I asked the men to elaborate on why I could not be there, they said that the owner of the property informed them that I could not enter the premises. The men gave me their names and claimed to work on the property. I attempted to hand them the papers and they refused to take anything from me. I proceeded to explain the court instructions and asked, “are you listening?” The man responded, “No, I am not listening,” and turned his back toward me to discuss quietly with the other man behind him. I ended up putting the papers on the ground and as they walked away, said, “you are being served.”

Granted, in any other situation, these men could claim that I never served them and there would be no proof. It would simply be a matter of “he said, she said.” However, I had a GoPro attached to my shirt that was recording the entire interaction. Once I notified the men that they had been served I also notified them that I had the interaction on camera. The man began to follow me as I walked away, shouting, “while you have me on tape,” then proceeded to chuck the court papers back at me where they landed chaotically on the ground.

This is the ugly side of serving defendants. This is the side that is not discussed. It is nice to believe that everyone takes these served papers with ease and complies with the system, but those defendants are few and far between. More often than not, they behave similarly to the situation described above, or maybe even with more volatility.

Here, we have experience serving unpredictable clients and can do so successfully. We want to help you serve your potentially explosive or aggressive clients that are evading service. Contact us today for your process serving needs!