If you need to get someone involved in a court proceeding, you can’t take anything by chance. Not only is it part of their fundamental rights to be notified of any claims made against them in a court of law, but if you don’t properly deliver the papers, then it’s possible that your entire case could fall apart. Serving due process isn’t something that can be just left up to chance, so you have to hire a process server to make sure everything goes smoothly. But when you’re choosing who to hire, how can you know that you’re picking the right one? Here are a few things to look for.
Proper Qualifications
Any process server needs to be licensed to do their work, and, more importantly, they need to be licensed to work in your region. Process servers in Toronto, ON area can serve papers in Ontario, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they can go across the border and serve papers in America. Make sure that whoever you work with is certified to process serve where you need them to.
They Have Insurance
Some states or provinces will make it a law that process servers be insured, whereas others won’t have that as a requirement. Whether it is a law or not, it should be a requirement for you. Make sure that anyone who you hire for process serving has proper insurance, and ask to see the documentation.
Experience
As with many aspects of hiring someone to deal with legal issues, one of the most important things to look for is experience. You want someone who you can trust, not only to do the right thing, but to have years of experience backing up their decisions. Nearly everyone who gets involved in legal issues isn’t comfortable doing so because they don’t do it very often; you want those who you work with to have the ease of experience granted by many years.
No Guarantees
No matter how effective someone is or how complete their track record, when it comes to tracking a person down and making sure that papers get to them, there are no full guarantees. Any honest process server will be upfront about that, so if anyone tells you otherwise, then they are either not very talented or trying to scam you.
Above all, go with your gut. If you feel like you can trust a process server, then you likely can, and if you get the impression that you can’t, always trust your instinct.
