However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t certain hard and fast rules to follow which when combined can add up to an extraordinarily effective serving process. In fact, by bearing the five golden rules of effective process serving in mind, those in the industry are largely guaranteed to make their own lives and those of the people they come into contact with much easier:
Rule 1 – Homework Helps
The first and most important rule of all concerns homework…and lots of it. It’s a plain and simple fact that the more research a server does prior to the serve being carried out, the higher the chance of its success. Research enables the server to determine a multitude of important things, ranging from where and when would make the best time to pass on the papers right through to how risks can be minimized. By contrast, poor research and preparation breeds ineffective failed and in some cases dangerous serves.
This is one industry in which there’s really no such thing as being too prepared.
Rule 2 – Modesty Matters
Something else to bear in mind is that there’s a difference between getting the job done and getting it done in a way that’s agreeable for all involved. The sender of the paper wants a pleasant outcome and you yourself ideally want a fast outcome, but this doesn’t mean that such wishes should be made the be all and end all.
For example, you could easily barge into the recipient’s workplace and throw the papers on their desk in front of a hundred of their colleagues. This might work in terms of making the serve, but will at the same time humiliate them, potentially put their job at risk and also breed a very hostile situation. As such, it’s crucial to tailor serves in a manner that’s sensitive and has the best interests of all parties in mind, including the recipient.
Rule 3 – Expect the Unexpected
The third most important rule concerns expecting the unexpected – cliché as it may sound. That being said, it might be better to say that with process serving it’s important not to fall foul of assumptions as while in certain instances you think you know what you’re going to get, things rarely pan out as you’d expected them too. Serves you think are going to be safe end up lethal and those that appear terrifying are wholly pleasant, so in any and all cases it’s important to acknowledge that you don’t know what’s going to happen. And in doing so, you stand a better chance of NOT being caught off guard.
Rule 4 – Plan Contingencies
Setting yourself up for failure is never a good way to go, but at the same time it’s just as important to anticipate failure so that you may compensate for it when it occurs. In the case of process serving, this means having additional plans in motion that can be brought in should the first serve prove unsuccessful. And if the serve is likely to prove a very difficult one, it’s never a bad idea to think about having a few extra plans in place to try out should each successive attempt come to nothing.
Rule 5 – Know When to Walk Away
Last but not least, one of the most vital rules of all in the world of the process server knows when to walk away. There isn’t a professional legal group in the country that would expect a process server to put their health, wellbeing or even their life on the line for a serve that might only net them half a day’s pay.
If it’s obvious that the serve is downright dangerous or in any way appears to be over and above what you’re capable of, the professional and wholly proper thing to do is accept your limitations and say no.
For process servers there is really nothing more dangerous or inappropriate than taking on jobs they don’t fully feel capable of pulling off. Yes, there’s a learning curve involved and yes it’s important to accept a challenge, but there’s a difference between a challenge and the kinds of serves you only accept because you feel you have to, despite the fact that you don’t believe you can pull it off.