Over the past 15 years, the electronic process of service (“e-service”) has become more and more popular. The manner in which American courts have permitted e-service in domestic and international lawsuits has changed the legal landscape—and it continues to do so. Below is some basic information on e-service and why this issue is important for…
If you have to file a lawsuit against a banking institution or any other financial institution, it is critical that you follow the established procedure for proper and effective service of process. If you fail to follow the requirements your case could be delayed or even dismissed. Doing so, however, is not so simple. The…
It is no secret that divorce can be difficult. Rarely is the process seamless. If your soon-to-be ex-spouse is in another country, your life at home may have less emotion and drama but serving divorce papers will be more difficult than doing so domestically. This is because proper service is much more complicated than just…
Understanding Service of Process The legal term “service of process” refers to the method used by parties in a lawsuit to formally deliver legal documents to the other parties in the litigation as well as the court. Service of process is a critical step in starting a lawsuit. Serving a defendant properly is so important…
If you need to serve someone or a company a lawsuit outside of your state, it is important to know how to do that properly. Service outside of the plaintiff’s state is more frequent than you may realize. Process servers estimate that up to 25% of their service requests originate from out of state. While…
In our last post, we explained that the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial & Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (“Hague Service Convention”) is a multilateral treaty adopted on November 15, 1965 by member nations of the Hague Convention on Private International Law (the “Convention”). This Hague Service Convention created unified rules…
Every now and then, process servers experience circumstances in which they cannot serve a defendant in a pending lawsuit. Although non-service can occur, most plaintiffs prefer actual and perfected in-person service. Thankfully, in cases in which a defendant must be served by any means possible, there are alternative services of process available that can be…
Perhaps one of the less common tasks that an attorney needs to oversee, international service of process can be more complicated than serving a defendant domestically. For this reason, attorneys need to know what this involves and how to ensure international service of process is effectuated properly. Many issues can arise when serving a defendant…
O.C.G.A. 9-11-4(h) provides that a return or affidavit reflecting service on a defendant shall be made and filed within 5 business days of service on the defendant. This causes confusion and concern for litigants who miss that deadline for various reasons such as the sheriff delaying providing the return or the mail delaying the process…
International service of process can be complicated, as there are many laws and regulations that must be complied with to effectuate proper service. A recent decision out of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California may provide a way for plaintiffs who are having problems regarding serving foreign defendants, according to JD…
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to infect people across our nation and our governments try to stop the spread, the legal profession keeps getting pushed into uncharted waters. One legal issue that still remains unclear is how service of process will be affected not just for those trying to serve others, but those parties who…
