We recently received a subpoena to serve on a witness from an attorney who advised that the witness is notoriously difficult to serve. We made a few attempts during the day and evening and we even posted contact cards on the door in the hopes that the witness would cooperate but there was no answer and the witness never called us back. My server then decided to make an attempt at midnight. My server went back at 12:05 am. He had his court issued identification displayed on his chest and he announced that he was a process server as he knocked on the door. Before he was finished knocking the witness angrily opened the door. He was irate at the late hour of service. The server proceeded to serve him with instructions and he immediately cleared the area. There was no need to stand in front of an angry witness a second longer than necessary.
The next day we received an angry call from the attorney who hired us. She was upset that our server served her process so late. Apparently the witness called her to yell at her about the late hour of service. I provided her with the server’s name pursuant to her request and she gave it to the witness so he could file a complaint with the court process service administrator. A complaint was made but nothing came of it. This is likely because in Florida process can be served 24 hours a day except on Sundays. There is no service on Sundays.
If a person to be served is evading and if they refuse to make themselves available it is sometimes necessary to make an early morning attempt and/or a late evening attempt to get the job done. The possible next step is attempting at their job or staking out the property but this is dependent on the financial motivation of the client as servers charge by the hour for stake outs. Eventually everyone gets served one way or another. As for the angry attorney who hired us, she may have been upset with us but she has worked with a few other process service companies and so far we are the only company to have served her difficult witness. We are still receiving work from her office.
If you are having a difficult time serving a defendant or witness, please call us for a consultation. We will work within the law to get the job done.
Miami PSPI, LLC
305-285-4321