Process Servers and Continuing Education 

What is it that process servers have against professional education?  Why is it that any attempt at holding seminars at the WSPSA Annual Conference is usually met with an empty room?  Do process servers in Washington know all there is to know about what it is they do?  Or are they simply "know it alls"?

I'm a founding member of WSPSA but I also happen to be a member of the Washington Association of Legal Investigators (WALI) so I receive their mailings and announcements.  They're holding their Fall Conference in October.  Let's take a look at the mailing I received today as it seems to list the topics for their educational seminars.  I'll put on my reading glasses and .... yes, it does indeed list some seminar topics.  They are:

  1. Forensic Accounting
  2. Workplace Violence
  3. FOIA - Open Government
  4. Business & Financial Fraud
  5. NCISS Legislative Update
  6. Attorney Expectations of PI's
  7. Interviewing the Child Witness
  8. The Business of Running a Small Business
  9. All Things Evidence
  10. The Art of the Interview

Not a bad set of topics.  Obviously they don't all apply to process serving but several of them could.  For instance #3, #5, #6, #8, and #10.  With some slight adjustments at least half of the topics on the WALI list would apply to process servers.  

Now I'll take a look at the educational opportunities available at this month's WSPSA Annual Conference.......Still looking...........Nope, nothing yet..........Can't find a thing.  Why?  Because in years past the level of interest has been slim to none.  

So why aren't process servers interested?  Now you and I both know that no one wants to sit through a 1 hour seminar on Attorney Expectations of Process Servers but sometimes it is important to do things you don't want to do.

Obviously my questions are rhetorical.  I know the answers.  And the main answer has to do with the fact there is no requirement, at any level, for process servers to know what they're doing!  Process servers are answerable to no one.

At some point some level of government is going to force a change upon us.  I understand that is what happened in Florida and what is about to happen in New York.  In a few states, Arizona for instance, the servers saw the light at the end of the tunnel and worked with state authorities and imposed some level of accountability on process servers.  The Federal Trade Commission is already looking at us (see previous posts) we could see action at that level.

If we don't get our heads out of the sand (and soon) someone is going to force change on us.  Then we'll find out how much we really know.

Comments (3)
Robin Mullins September 10th, 2009 03:20:10 PM