Robin's Ruminations

How many of you have been following the advance of technology in the legal field and, specifically, process serving?  Certainly nearly all of us use computers to generate our proofs, exchange e-mails, and maybe even do our accounting.  Fewer of us have interactive websites, scan documents for transmission to affiliates, or generate electronic documents that never see a piece of paper until the receiver prints them (if they are ever printed at all).  And even fewer of us think about the implications for the industry as a whole.  So I ask you to take a moment and think about this question, "Where is the ever expanding world of technology taking us?"

I've ruminated on this topic for quite some time and had long talks (and e-mail exchanges) with other process servers around the country.  And like any other attempt to predict the future such musings are subject to many variables and any conclusions are far more likely to be wrong than right.  So let's take a look at one factor that might affect the entire industry and that is e-service.

There has been a lot written lately about e-service but I think very few of us are really taking it seriously.  In fact, I would go so far as to say many of us have our heads stuck in the sand or, even worse, simply don't care whether e-service happens or not.  In part this may be because we don't understand how, in theory, e-service is supposed to work.  

In my mind there is a great deal of resemblance between e-service and snail mail service.  But, as technology has done in so many other situations, e-service has the potential of being faster, less expensive, and more reliable than snail mail.  And e-service certainly has the potential of being faster and less expensive than regular "person to person" service.  Is e-service more reliable than regular service?  It might well be if we continue to have sewer service episodes such as just came to light in New York and a couple of other areas of the country.  Indeed, we are not immune to this sort of problem as I am familiar (most unfortunately) with the forgery of proofs of service right here in Washington.  

To get a handle on e-service we need to take a step back and ask, "What is service of process?"  And here is a nice succinct answer, "The delivery of a writ, summons, or other legal papers to the person or entity required to respond to them."  Of course the various states have promulgated distinct rules relating to service but they all come down to some form of delivery.  Those added rules, despite their variations, are there to improve the reliability aspect of service.  

In Part 2 of this series I will discuss and compare snail mail service, regular service, and e-service in greater detail.