{"id":21526,"date":"2014-08-25T13:14:14","date_gmt":"2014-08-25T17:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=21526"},"modified":"2014-08-25T13:14:14","modified_gmt":"2014-08-25T17:14:14","slug":"new-york-process-servers-lose-a-suit-on-new-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=21526","title":{"rendered":"“New York Process Servers Lose a Suit on New Rules”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since serving your complaint upon your prospective defendants is a task usually assigned to a professional \u2212 the loathsome process server whose reflexive action upon serving the complaint (“You’ve been served!”) will often be followed by a “Hey this is not my fault, I’m just a working bloke doing a job” component lest he get the shit kicked out of him \u2212 I read this article in the Times with interest<\/a>. Because who knew that the rules for process servers have changed because some of them haven’t actually been, um, serving?<\/p>\n

\u00a0It is one of the basic elements of law: When you are sued, you have to be notified so that you can appear in court to defend yourself.<\/em><\/p>\n

But New Yorkers were not always receiving the court papers, even though process servers were signing affidavits swearing that they had properly delivered them.<\/em><\/p>\n

The problem \u2014 known as sewer service, for the process servers\u2019 metaphorically dumping the papers in sewers \u2014 led to an amendment of a city law<\/a> regulating process servers and the introduction of a set of rules based on that law by the Department of Consumer Affairs.<\/em><\/p>\n

A federal civil rights lawsuit that challenged the authority of the city and the Department of Consumer Affairs to enact such rules was dismissed<\/a> this week by Judge Denise L. Cote of Federal District Court in Manhattan.<\/em><\/p>\n

The city\u2019s administrative code and its charter specifically give the Department of Consumer Affairs a way to remedy violations administratively, the judge found. The lawsuit challenging<\/a> the department\u2019s authority was filed by the New York State Professional Process Servers Association.<\/em><\/p>\n

The city has claimed victory, but says it still has work to do. Consumer Affairs still receives about 40 complaints a year from consumer and legal advocates that papers were not served; officials there say this represents just a fraction of the problem, because few consumers know to report such cases.<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, yeah. How can you report that a process server failed to serve you if you weren’t served<\/em>? Hm.<\/p>\n

Although I really like the term “sewer service.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since serving your complaint upon your prospective defendants is a task usually assigned to a professional \u2212 the loathsome process server whose reflexive action upon serving the complaint (“You’ve been served!”) will often be followed by a “Hey this is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[697,696],"class_list":["post-21526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-news","tag-process-servers","tag-serving-a-lawsuit"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t