Robin's Ruminations

The Washington State Process Servers Association is presenting a full day seminar on Saturday, April 17th, in Shoreline just north of Seattle.  There will be six sessions starting at 9 a.m. and running until 4 p.m.  The first five sessions will feature experienced process servers speaking on topics relevant to the profession.

Robin Mullins (that's me ;-) will cover a variety of business topics ranging from how to register with your county auditor to setting up your business structure to making sure you know the difference between an IC and an employee.

Jim Cronin's topic is report writing as it relates to declarations of diligence.  Our clients and our courts know us primarily through the written word.  One way to impress a client is to provide well written descriptive declarations in those instances where the canned language of standard proofs of service simply isn't enough.

Gary Turpen's company probably posts more foreclosure documents than anyone else in the state.  He'll talk not only about postings but also how to conduct foreclosure sales.  Gary has seen nearly every situation conceivable in this specialized area of process serving and he'll share the solutions with us.

Pat Mahoney is (in my humble opinion) one of the best, if not THE BEST, process server in the state.  He's got 17 years under his belt in and around the Seattle/King County area.  Guns, dogs, you name it and he's faced it.  For tips and tricks there is no one better.

Eric Vennes, after many years as the owner of Northwest Legal Support, is now in the insurance business and specializes in writing policies covering process servers and private investigators.  He'll discuss all of the nightmare scenarios which can result in the process server being served instead of doing the serving.  From the liability point of view, process serving can be a high risk business.

But what about the sixth hour?  Frankly it should be the most fun and interesting!  We're hoping that most, if not all, of our speakers will hang around until 3 o'clock when they'll form a discussion panel to take your questions and offer advice on every aspect of the industry.

Here's a sample of what you'll come away with:
1.        Tips on how to accomplish those difficult serves that stymie the competition.
2.        How to post bare land in remote areas and when to tell the client you can't.
3.        Write a drop dead Declaration of Diligence sure to please your client and impress the judge.
4.        Knowing when to press hard to accomplish a service and when to back off to save your skin.
5.        Are you an IC or an employee and how to tell the difference.
6.        AND MUCH MORE.

And did I mention that the Washington Association of Legal Investigators (WALI) is holding a seminar the same day in Spokane?  Indeed they are!  And they'll have their own great set of topics valuable to both process servers and private investigators.  If you're in eastern Washington then Spokane is the place to be on April 17th.

WSPSA Spring Seminar Registration Form.pdf
WALI Spokane Spring Seminar Schedule April 17th.doc
WALI 2010 Spring Seminar Application .doc