What to Do When a Defendant Contests Service

In many court cases, the defendant has to be served with papers for the case to move forward. If service doesn’t happen, the defendant can claim that they were not given due process and therefore the case might be thrown out entirely. When a defendant contests service and claims that they didn’t receive the papers, you will need to take some steps to ensure that your case moves forward.

Immediately Call Your Process Server

As soon as the defendant contests service, contact the process server that you hired. Let them know the situation, and then ask them to provide you with proof of service. Proof of service could be something as simple as a signature obtained when the papers were delivered. If a signature was not required, it may include documentation from the process server about the steps they took to deliver the papers.

Talk to Your Attorney

Your next call should be to your attorney if they were not present in the courtroom when the defendant contested service. If he or she feels it is necessary, they may seek a subpoena for the process server to testify in court. If the documentation from the process server does not contain a signature from the defendant, having the process server testify to back up the documentation may be required.

Request New Service

When you talk to your attorney or the judge, request that service be repeated. Make sure that your process server gets a signature so that there is proof of service and they cannot claim they did not receive it again. If you aren’t sure your previous process server is trustworthy, you might want to hire a different process server and apprise them of the situation and your requirements.

If you are in need of a process server to deliver your papers, contact us today for more information or to get started.