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Service of Process

The Due Process clauses in the United States Constitution prohibit courts from exercising personal jurisdiction over a defendant unless the defendant has proper notice of the court's proceedings. To meet this rule, courts require plaintiffs to arrange for defendants to be served with a court summons and a copy of the plaintiffs' complaint. These papers are collectively called process.

Typically, it is not enough to simply mail process to the defendant. The summons and complaint must be either given directly to defendants or left with a suitable person at their home or place of business. Service may usually be performed by any adult who is not a party to the lawsuit. Plaintiffs may hire professional process servers to serve defendants.

There are exceptions to these general rules. For example, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow defendants to waive in-hand service of process. Defendants who do so get more time to compose their answer. Those who refuse must compensate the plaintiff for the costs of arranging for in-hand service. See Rule 4(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Rules governing service of process vary by jurisdiction. See State Civil Procedure Rules.

See Civil Procedure

Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary

The delivery of copies of legal documents such as summons, complaint, subpena, order to show cause (order to appear and argue against a proposed order), writs, notice to quit the premises, and certain other documents, usually by personal delivery to the defendant or other person to whom the documents are directed. In certain cases of absent or unknown defendants, the court will allow service by publication in a newspaper. Once all parties have filed a complaint, answer, or any pleading in a lawsuit, further documents usually can be served by mail or even fax. (See also: personal service, substituted service)

Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.

August 19, 2010, 5:24 pm