What is the basic premise of process services, and what role do process servers fulfil? Both the United States Constitution and the Nevada State Constitution contain clauses supporting the rights of all citizens, particularly the right to be aware of one’s involvement in a lawsuit in order for a for the trial to be lawful, i.e. the right to service of process. Service of process protects one’s procedural due process rights, such as the right to be made aware that a lawsuit has been filed against someone. The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution provides that a person cannot be deprived of his life, liberty, or property without procedural due process. Process servers play an integral part in protecting the rights of individuals. The role of a process server is to put people on notice of lawsuits or other legal proceedings that have been filed against them in our court system. In other words, process servers help to ensure that the due process rights of an individual are protected by serving such individuals with a summons and copy of the complaint filed against them. From your own experience, what matters do process servers typically become involved in handling? As noted, process servers act as a link between the courts and defendants by ensuring that a person who has been sued has been served with a copy of the action against them. Process servers are typically retained to serve civil complaints, which can include civil litigation, tort law, personal injury, breach of contract, family law and other matters. Process servicers are not usually involved in criminal matters. Of course, there are time restrictions and other criteria that process servers must meet. Can you tell us more about those restrictions? Every plaintiff has a limited amount of time, usually 120 days, to serve the defendant with the summons and complaint. This time period is set forth in the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure, or the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure if the complaint is filed in Federal Court. When it comes to serving legal documents, anybody who is at least 18 years old and not a party to the action can serve a complaint. It can also be served by marshalls or a deputy marshall, or other persons appointed by the court. In Nevada, a professional process server must be licensed with the State before they can collect a fee to serve documents. In Nevada, process servers are governed by the State of Nevada Private Investigator Licensing Board. To become a licensed process server in Nevada, one must: • Be at least 21 years of age; • Be a citizen of the United States or lawfully entitled to remain and work in the United States; • Be of good moral character and temperate habits; • Have not been convicted of: o A felony o Any crime involving moral turpitude or the illegal use or possession of a dangerous weapon; • Undergo a criminal history background check through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Nevada Department of Public Safety; • Pass an exam with a score of 75% or better (only for individual applicants and qualified agent applicants); • Meet the experience/education requirement of 4000 hours. Regarding both the federal and state rules, what are the consequences if a process server fails to meet the due criteria? If a complaint is not served within 120 days and additional time for service is not requested, a legal action can be dismissed without prejudice. In this event, the plaintiff can initiate a new legal action – provided that the relevant statute of limitations has not expired. If the statute of limitations has expired since the initial action was filed, the plaintiff will not be allowed to refile their lawsuit in the event that it is dismissed 16 LAWYER MONTHLY JULY 2023 If a complaint is not served within 120 days and additional time for service is not requested, a legal action can be dismissed without prejudice.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk3Mzkz