How do you serve the Opposing Party?

In some cases, the first real hurdle that a litigant needs to clear comes after they have filed their complaint with the appropriate clerk’s office in the correct jurisdiction. In most Maryland jurisdictions, after the Complaint or Petition has been filed, the clerk’s office will then mail a summons to the party that filed the action. It is then up to the party who filed the action to serve the opposing party with a copy of everything that has been filed with the Court and a copy of the Summons.

In some situations, serving the other party is easy. All that’s necessary is for an individual over the age of eighteen, who is not a party to the litigation, to hand a copy of all of the paperwork to the opposing party. An affidavit of service then needs to be filed with the Court and the case should proceed.

However, sometimes this simple act can be very difficult. In some situations, the location of the  the opposing party may not be known. It may be that the opposing party’s location is known but they are living out of state, out of the county, or in a remote area. Sometimes, the opposing party doesn’t want to be found because they do not want to be served with the pending lawsuit.

There are a number of options for professional services to serve an opposing party. In many jurisdictions, the first option for service is often the local sheriff’s office. The local Sherriff’s office will often offer to make attempts to serve the opposing party for a relatively low fee. Similar to the Sherriff’s office, there are a number of private companies that for a slightly higher fee will attempt to serve the opposing party. These companies often have additional resources, software, and databases that allow them access to details that might reveal where an opposing party is living or working. With that information it is often easier to serve the other side.

In more cooperative cases (uncontested divorces in particular), it may be possible to arrange a meeting where the  opposing party simply picks up a discreet envelope with the papers that need to be served upon them. There is also an option to serve by mail. In uncontested divorce matters, these techniques are often used by our law firm to serve our complaints. They are private, efficient, and does not inflame what can already be a tense situation.

If after several attempts to serve the opposing party have failed, the Maryland Rules provide the option of filing a Motion for Alternative Service. Motions for Alternative Service often require the filing party to identify all of the efforts they have exhausted in an attempt to locate and contact the opposing party for the purpose of serving that individual (or individuals). In such cases and depending on the level of difficulty the opposing party is causing by avoiding service, sometimes the Court will allow for the case to proceed as if the party has been served without direct service being actually effectuated. In these situations, sometimes the Court considers the opposing party served if notice of the lawsuit is printed in a local paper or posted at the physical location of the Court house. More modern approaches to the issues of alternative service include serving the opposing party via e-mail or even through social media messaging apps and software.

For any additional questions on getting someone served, feel free to contact our office for more information.