How Does a Process Server Find Someone?
Anytime you choose to take legal action against a person or entity, the law requires you to notify that party of the charges that you are bringing against him, her, or it in court. This is made more difficult by subjects who know of a pending suit and choose to evade any person that he or she feels may be a process server. After all, if the person is not served properly, then the lawsuit cannot proceed. When a would-be defendant goes underground in order to dodge service of court documents, you need to partner with a process server that has some trusty tricks up his sleeve when comes to finding the evasive.
Process servers employ methods like skip tracing, which means that they will research every public and private database available to find a person, or they will stage a lengthy stakeout to familiarize themselves with the regular routine of the subject. They can determine where he or she works, lives, hangs out, and who his or her contacts are. This enables the server to easily catch the subject off-guard and serve him or her. Some servers even go undercover posing as food delivery drivers or door-to-door salespeople to initiate contact with the subject after confirming his or her identity.
Skip tracing is a talent that Scott is particularly good at. He uses certain information that he has with regard to a defendant to lead to more information until he can eventually determine where he or she is staying. This preliminary information can include a Social Security number, former addresses, prior and current employers, and the names of family, friends, and ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends. Additionally, criminal and civil records, along with all federal and statewide databases, are searched and analyzed. He then follows all leads until he can locate his subject.
A good Louisiana process server will conduct a fairly long interview to gather as much information as possible about the person that is to be served. With regard to the defendant, knowing any possible aliases, addresses of close friends and family, places of employment, and patterns of criminal behavior will help the server formulate a plan that is sure to locate the individual, while simultaneously keeping his or herself safe.