PS 101 – Chapter 2 – Article 3 – Why Don’t Process Servers Care

The article below was originally printed in the NAPPS magazine, The Docket Sheet, in the May-June 2010 issue.  It is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author, Paul Tamaroff.  Mr. Tamaroff has held numerous positions on the NAPPS Board of Directors including that of President.  Likewise he has been active in the Georgia Association of Professional Process Servers (GAPPS).

Why Don’t Process Servers Care?

Recent posts on the process server list serves reflect that there is an alarming number of process servers who are unaware of what is happening in the profession. E-mails from process servers who state they have been serving process for as many as twenty or thirty-years and consider themselves to be mere “delivery boys” is quite disturbing. These process servers show a lack of concern about the profession or the laws that define our role in the constitutional guarantee of due process of law. These persons readily jump into discussions to impart their “knowledge” of the “Rules of Process Serving” through anecdotal tales that usually begin with statements like, “I’ve been doing it this way for years . . . .” They are the first to offer advice to the novice who asks a question, and the advice is, more often than not, incorrect, and not based on the law. These process servers are frozen in time, completely happy in their blissful ignorance of the changes that have taken place in our profession during the many years since they began serving process.

These process servers are examples of everything we do not want to be. They blatantly display a complete ignorance of the laws as well as best practices. They might as well be serving process on the moon since they are unaware of what is happening in their own states, much less the remaining 49 states, territories and the international community. More importantly, their attitude is reflective of the attitude of many process servers who are members of NAPPS, CALSPRO, and other state process server associations.

I realize this is a strong indictment of not just process servers at large, but of members of our own association. But, having written articles for the Docket Sheet over the years, one has to wonder how many of our over 2,000 members read the articles and reports. In talking to many members at our annual conference I have become convinced that even these members have no real understanding of what their association leaders have been doing on their behalf. To me, this is shameful.

Every professional group has a professional association (sometimes more than one), to which they belong, and which issue professional periodicals. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc., read these periodicals to make sure they maintain their professional qualifications. Yet, too many process servers, the most important persons in the civil judicial chain of justice, seemingly have little or no interest in what is happening in their profession. We have a problem. Is there a solution? I hope there is, and I plan to attend to this issue in future installments. I would also like to hear from others who share my concerns, as well as those who believe my concerns are imaginary. 

Paul K. Tamaroff, Director