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Knock knock. Who’s there? Mr. Process Server. Mr. Process Server who? Open up the door so
I can serve you lawsuit papers. Would you like to learn whether or not you have to open
the door to accept those legal papers? Come join me as I share the answer with you. Hi.
I’m Gerry Oginski. I’m a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial attorney
practicing law here in the state of New York. First of all, what is a process server? See
when you bring a lawsuit in New York, we have to prepare legal papers known as a “summons
and complaint.” The law then requires that we then take those allegations and those documents
and deliver it to the people that you are suing and how do we do that? Well lawyers
hire people called “process servers.” They serve process, legal process. And what
they do is they take those papers and the best way to deliver them is personally. “Hey,
Mr. Jones, I’ve got something for you.” And they hand them the papers personally.
Now, when that happens – when they are able to personally identify who they are going
to be giving the papers to – now that person (the process server) is obligated to write
out a document known as an “affidavit.” They have to swear that they served and they
gave these papers to Mr. Jones on a particular date at a particular time and they have to
briefly describe that individual. Now why do they do that? They do that so now they
we can take that document known as an affidavit of service and show the court, hey, just wanted
to let you know Mr. Jones was delivered these papers at this time and this date. If we do
not serve and deliver these papers properly, then Mr. Jones and his attorney have every
right – legal right – to come before the court and say, “Your honor, we did not get
notified properly of this particular lawsuit. Therefore any order that you render in this
case doesn’t apply to us.” And that would be absolutely correct. So what happens if
the process server has to deliver these papers to someone’s home? Knock knock. Who’s
there? Well, my name is Mr. Gonzalez. Yeah, Mr. Gonzalez what do you want? Oh, I have
some papers here for you. Really? Leave it at the door. No, it’s better if I hand deliver
it to you. And they refuse to open the door. What happens then is now the process server
has an alternative. They can leave a copy of the papers on the front of the door and
then they’re obligated to send a copy of it by mail to that household. And then, again,
the process server has to fill out a piece of paper and swear that’s exactly how he
served those papers. He left a copy attached to the front door and he mailed a copy to
this person’s address. So why do I share this information with you? I share it with
you to give you an idea and an understanding into what happens in the litigation process
here in the state of New York. Understanding how legal papers are served and the various
steps necessary to start your lawsuit is very important and it’s something that you should
know about. You know, chances are you have questions or concerns about your own matter.
And if your matter happened in the state of New York, what I encourage you to do is pick
up the phone and call me. I answer legal questions like yours every single day. And you can reach
me at 516-487-8207 or by email at lawmed10@yahoo.com. I’ve got to go now, I hear somebody knocking
on my door. I’m Gerry Oginski, have a great day.