5 Reasons to Hire Process Servers Instead of the Sheriff

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Reasons to Hire Process Servers

In this article, you will get to know about the 5 reasons to hire process servers instead of the Sheriff. When you file a case with a clerk in your local court, you will have 3 options to have summons served.

  1. You could have a sheriff serve the defendant
  2. You could have unlicensed individuals serve them
  3. You could hire a professional process server for the job.

In the example of New York City, a commonly used option is to hire a process server or to deliver documents via the sheriff.

Since it is the job of the sheriff to serve legal papers, most people also wonder why they should settle for the services of a process server. Well, as it turns out, there are 5 reasons why you will be better off choosing a process server instead of a sheriff.

The primary reason for doing so is that professional process servers always make sure that the defendant receives legal documents. In contrast, sheriffs usually follow predictable schedules whenever they perform the service, which makes it easy for individuals to dodge them.

On the other hand, process servers are much more flexible, which means they are a lot more flexible in terms of location and time of serve. This also means the defendant’s receipt is a lot more probable.

1.  They Are More Flexible With Their Schedules

In New York City, you will have no choice but to follow a specific set of guidelines if you settle for a sheriff serving your legal documents. For starters, you will have to send the original document along with 2 copies over to the sheriff’s office at least 2 weeks before the date set by the court.

The Service of Process Intake Sheet, as well as your documents, will have to be accompanied by a service fee. Also, for each additional location, a sheriff will ask for an additional fee.

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In contrast, process server agencies like the ones offered by Elite Legal Services are able to offer their services within just a few days of receiving documents, which also means that you will be in no rush to alert the defendants.

2.  They Offer More Control Over Their Range of Service

While you will give a sheriff all the identifying information like the model or make of a vehicle the defendant drives, you wouldn’t have much confirmation as to whether the defendant will have been served based on this information. There have been plenty of instances where defendants deliberately avoid getting served by the sheriff simply because their service schedule is very predictable.

3.  They Offer More Accurate Services

Rest assured that a sheriff will never be able to deliver all your documents on time. However, a lot could and, in the past, has gone wrong whenever sheriffs were about to reach their deadline. When this happens, the defendants may either be too busy or may even be making a conscious effort to dodge the service of the sheriff.

While all of the circumstances may seem like they aren’t in the sheriff’s control, they are easily mitigated by experienced process servers. You see, a sheriff wouldn’t have access to the incentive or the resources to input the effort necessary to face such situations.

4.  They Offer More Tailored Services

In New York, anyone can be served between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. However, this excluded Saturdays and Sundays for everyone who observes these days as holy. That said, sheriffs tend to only work Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., which limits their capabilities to serve defendants.

In addition to this, sheriffs are also responsible for creating a route that is feasible and economical for them on a daily basis. This leaves no room for sheriffs to take specific requests into account.

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In comparison, the most experienced process servers in the industry conduct their services in a more tailored, flexible, and personalized manner. They are able to serve defendants at very ‘unorthodox’ locations and whenever they will most likely be available.

Even if the whereabouts of defendants were to be unknown, process servers would be able to have these people traced within a matter of hours.

5.  They Offer Error-Free Services

For a sheriff, serving an individual would require you to send the relevant documents and fees to their office in whichever country the defendant resides in. However, process servers could serve defendants timeously and without breaking a sweat as long as the defendant resides in the area they operate in.

There are numerous other reasons why choosing process servers is a lot better than choosing the sheriff. To be able to reap the benefits, you should only choose those process servers who are experienced and offered through reliable, experienced, and reputable agencies.

Final Thoughts

Process servers are a crucial part of law firms and legal cases because most plaintiffs would prefer to have their cases taken care of as cost-effectively and quickly as possible while also adhering to the relevant rules and regulations.

A survey that consisted of over 100 paralegals and legal professionals found that process servers were a lot more effective than sheriffs. This is because of the fact that process servers are able to provide a better quality of service with greater knowledge and speed within the confines of the area they operate in.

For law firms that utilize a sheriff to offer process services, their clients will be much better off if they started offering private process servers. With that said, we hope that this post has cleared all your doubts about hiring the sheriff versus process servers.

Choose Elite Legal Services

It is a process server’s job to combine creativity, organization, and not giving up. Elite Legal Services has been providing professional support services for attorneys in New York for over 18 years and, therefore, we know exactly how to get things done.