It’s a constitutional right (to be notified).

We don’t serve papers for fun, and being threatened is less than enjoyable.

If someone is being sued, he/she has a right to know. What recipients of service of process fail to sometimes understand is that process servers are in no way, shape, or form involved in the said case. Process servers only have one job, and that is to serve documents.

According to dictionary.law.com, an “officer of the court” is any person who has an obligation to promote justice and effective operation of the judicial system, including judges, the attorneys who appear in court, bailiffs, clerks and other personnel. Servers are officers of the court. Sometimes, servers must actually appear in court to defend their services. Therefore, it is our right to do our job as effectively as possible.

However, we cannot control how those on the receiving end of these documents will react to service. We must always be prepared for anything. ♦

Transcript:

It’s a constitutional right for someone to be notified that they are being sued. It’s a constitutional right.

When we confront someone, when we’re serving them with original process, and they become belligerent, you know, they want to spit on us, they want to throw things at us, they want to kick us, they want to curse us, they want to tell us what part of the human body we were born out of…these kind of things you encounter.

But I always train my guys to respond in a very positive way and say, “Listen, we’re protecting your constitutional right to be notified. We are the messenger. We are not the instigator of the lawsuit against you. I’m sorry you’re being sued, but, that’s the way it is.” Sometimes, we get a good response, and sometimes, it gets nasty.