Services offered by a process server. Process servers are often overlooked while mentioning major jobs in the judicial system. What most people do not realize is that process servers play a very important role in making sure that court cases happen; without process servers, a lot of court proceedings would come to a dead end. But who is a process server?
A process server is an individual who serves copies of court documents to the parties involved in the case.
Services offered by a process server
So what exactly do process servers do? Besides the obvious serving of court documents, there are a few other roles that under the process server’s hat:
Filing papers to the court
Court filing defines the process of handing in or submitting legal documents to the court to notify the court of the legal suit so that the court can review the papers and assign a date for the trial.
But can’t anyone do this? No. there are certain legal regulations that need to be adhered to to ensure that the lawsuit takes and is done right. There are deadlines to consider as well as a statute of limitations.
Filing can be done physically where the process server physically submits the papers to the court or electronically through e-filing. E-filing can be tricky so you mustn’t try to do it yourself but enlist the help of a process server who will keep with the regulations stipulated for e-filing.
Commissioner for taking affidavits
Process servers can also act as commissioner for taking affidavits. An individual who is authorized by the Attorney general of the province to legally certify signatures signed on important documents is known as a commissioner of oaths. Ideally, a notary public is meant to be a neutral third party to an agreement who ensures that the statements in a document are genuine and are collected legally.
Skip tracing
This is more of part of the process than a separate role in itself. Process service involves serving documents to individuals who, in some cases, might not want to be found. It is up to the process server to find ways of finding the individual. This is where skip tracing comes in. skip tracing is a location service that process servers use to locate the parties evading service.
Learn more skip tracing techniques here.
Retrieval of records and documents
When lawyers and paralegals need to find documents and records to support their claim, the best person to go to is a process server.
Process servers are well versed with the court system and are best placed to find all sorts of records that would be needed. Process servers also have a wide network that allows them to source information across each other easily. Location of documents is thus done faster.
Courier services
Being accustomed to handling legal documents securely, process servers are well equipped to handle delicate documents and packages. You can therefore employ the services of a process server to handle and deliver, documents and packages securely.
With such a wide array of roles under their belts, process servers are anything but irrelevant. These are just some of the Services offered by a process server. If you are aware of any other services, do not hesitate to leave a comment below.
There are more articles on our website you may benefits from. Check out the links below:
How Much Is A Process Server Worth?
How To Avoid Process Server Mistakes
How Best To Serve Process Successfully
Qualities of a Good Process Server
Defining The Canadian Paralegal