***ATTENTION JOB POSTING: PROCESS SERVER***
(Veteran program in place to support those who have served our country.)
As a Process Server, you’ll support legal and court activities by hand-delivering documents such as subpoenas, summons, and restraining orders to individuals involved in court cases. This role requires thorough familiarity with legal practices and processes, as well as the ability to research defendants and other involved parties and find their current address or place of work to deliver documents. Process Servers work closely with legal professionals, and are often employed by law offices or courts to locate individuals and serve them with legal documents. Process Servers also play an important role in maintaining records to ensure that legal proceedings can occur.
Based on job postings that we analyzed, process servers have several core responsibilities:
Deliver Legal Documents: The central duty of a process server is delivering various legal documents by hand to individuals involved with court cases. These documents can range from summons and subpoenas to restraining orders. In this aspect of the role, the process server needs verbal confirmation that the recipient is the individual named in the legal document before serving the papers. They then must collect the individual’s signature to confirm receipt of the document.
Locate Individuals to be Served: Another major part of a process server’s job is locating individuals involved in court cases, typically using public records databases to identify their current whereabouts and contact information. In many cases, defendants and other individuals involved in cases may leave town or attempt to avoid the process server, in which case they need to use other methods to track down the individual’s location.
Maintain Delivery Records: Process servers also need to maintain accurate delivery records for all documents they handle, including records of signatures. This part of the job is vital, since improperly recorded deliveries may result in a case being thrown out of court on a technicality. Additionally, process servers may need to prepare reports related to their deliveries for use by lawyers, judges, and other legal professionals.
Collaborate with Legal Professionals: Process servers work with a wide variety of legal professionals to support their activities. This can include many different tasks, ranging from collecting documents from lawyers to reviewing information about defendants and other involved parties. Process servers may work with lawyers to establish timelines for deliveries and determine each individual connected to a particular court case. They may need to present reports of their deliveries or (in rare cases) testify in court.
Adhere to Rules and Regulations: While locating individuals, delivering documents, and collecting signatures, process servers also need to ensure that they are following rules and regulations related to their duties. Process servers need to confirm that their locating and skip-tracing methods are within legal limits. They also need to follow rules for document presentation and signature collection, such as making sure that the recipients verbally identify themselves to prevent court cases being thrown out.
Process servers deliver legal documents such as summons and subpoenas to individuals involved in a variety of court cases. Most workers in this role have at least a high school diploma and the following skills:
Legal knowledge – process servers should be familiar with legal and court procedures and understand the regulations related to serving summons and other documents to individuals
Attention to detail – this role requires excellent attention to detail, since process servers need to ensure that documents reach the correct recipients and that they maintain accurate records
Communication skills – process servers should be strong written and verbal communicators, since they work with legal professionals and individuals involved in court cases
Research skills – in this role, process servers frequently need to locate individuals to deliver documents, so they should have strong research skills and be able to locate correct and current information
Record-keeping skills – process servers also need to maintain accurate records of document deliveries and may also need to submit these records to lawyers, judges, and other legal professionals