What are the Top Trends Influencing Process Serving Today?
For decades, process servers have notified defendants of lawsuits, subpoenas, and other important legal matters. Thanks to rapidly advancing technology and ever-changing laws, the business of process serving can seem like the Wild West. Are professional process servers prepared to navigate this untamed frontier?
Below, you’ll learn about some of the most promising tools available to process servers and a few challenges they might face on the job.
E-Service
Ages ago, process servers had to track down a defendant and hand them notice in person. That’s still a thing, of course, but today’s process servers are more frequently making use of e-service, or electronic service.
E-service allows process servers to send documents through secure electronic channels. Process servers can also conduct video conferences with clients and defendants. This is highly convenient as it allows them to do business remotely instead of traveling to a physical location.
Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence
Process servers work with large amounts of data, and keeping track of everything can be a burden. With the advent of data analytics tools, process servers can comb through hundreds of records in seconds. That means no more spending long hours sifting through hard copies of paperwork.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting smarter and more reliable every day, too. It can:
- Predict a person’s location
- Write emails and fill out paperwork
- Scan records
- Help process servers find relevant laws
No-Service, No-Fee Regulations
It’s not all sunshine and roses for professional process servers. New “no-service, no-fee” regulations might make it harder for certified process servers to get paid.
Under these regulations, a client does not have to pay a process server who doesn’t complete service. So, if a process server heads to someone’s home or business but can’t find them, they may be out of luck.
An Increasing Risk of Violence
Nowadays, it seems like everyone has a bone to pick with somebody. Simply cutting in line at the store or looking at someone the wrong way is enough to trigger a potentially deadly assault.
Process servers can bear the full brunt of this anger and frustration. It’s easy to imagine why, as defendants are none too pleased when they learn that someone wants to sue them.
In 2022, a process server from Portland, OR, suffered back injuries and a broken arm when attempting to serve a woman with a restraining order. And in 2021, a man viciously beat a Washington process server so badly that he feared for his life.
It’s a felony to attack process servers in many states, including Florida. However, process servers question whether they’re truly protected, especially after a court ruled in favor of a gun-wielding homeowner who beat a server, citing the state’s Stand Your Ground Law as the reason for the ruling.
Contact Our Process Serving Professionals
If you’re looking for trusted process serving professionals, hire our legal document servers. At Professional Process Servers & Investigators, Inc., we ensure timely court document delivery and always provide reliable service of process for your business.
Request a quote now or call (844) 530-0255 to learn more.
