Legal battles and lawsuits have become a fact of life, and as a result many people each day send and receive official court documents that provide notice of an impending court dispute. This service of process, the act of providing the defendant in a legal case with the proper paperwork notifying him that action is being taken against him, is a professional job that has the potential to go rather awry.
In one strange case, a 19-year-old woman in Florida was served papers accusing her of not paying child support for a child she “fathered” at the age of 8. As a female, it is of course biologically impossible that this woman “fathered” any child, let alone at the age of 8, but she is having a rather difficult time convincing the courts that she has been served incorrectly!
Scottsdale, Arizona is also making headlines for its use of service of process for citizens caught running red lights and speeding. Using state of the art traffic cameras, law enforcement in Scottsdale is aggressively pursuing drivers who fail to stop appropriately or follow the speed limit. When citizens fail to respond to their tickets send in the mail, Scottsdale actually sends process servers out to serve the tickets personally or, as a last resort, uses alternative process service to leave citations at a resident’s front door, even if the driver isn’t present. This method has drawn criticism from opponents who feel it’s unfair and doesn’t guarantee that the driver is made aware of the citation.
Across the pond, so to speak, in England, the UK’s favorite Chelsea soccer team has stirred controversy after the team doctor, Eva Carneiro, resigned due to unfair treatment surrounding her decision to treat an injured soccer player on the field. Carneiro and the Chelsea team have been unable to agree on settlement terms, leading Carneiro’s lawyer to serve papers informing the Chelsea club that she will be seeking a claim for constructive dismissal. This form of dismissal occurs when an employer has committed a serious breach of contract which entitles the employee to resign in response to the employer’s conduct and ultimately pursue legal action accordingly.
Service of process certainly has its twists, turns, and place in the spotlight!
