Two East Coast travel bloggers who posted a sensitive airport security memo on their Internet sites have been subpoenaed by federal officials trying to find out who sent them the document.
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One of the writers, Steve Frischling, also had his laptop seized by agents looking for evidence of his source for the Transportation Security Administration directive. It outlined stricter security guidelines adopted by TSA in the wake of a failed Christmas Day terrorist attack on a Northwest Airlines flight.
The memo, which Frischling said was sent to airports and airlines worldwide that fly into the United States, set forth screening measures such as increased pat-downs at airport check points, concentrating on upper legs and torsos, and a rule that passengers stay in their seats for one hour before planes landed.
Read more here
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
TSA agents subpoena bloggers to find out who leaked new securitydocument
Monday, December 28, 2009
Process Server Says Man Assaulted Her At His Bremerton Home
A 41-year-old Spanaway woman said she was assaulted Monday by a man at a Bremerton home where she was trying to serve papers.
The woman, who owns a legal process-serving company, told Kitsap County sheriff?s deputies that she knocked at the home on the 800 block of NE Michelle Court and identified herself. The 28-year-old man who answered the door said that the recipient was not there.
The woman tried to hand the paperwork to the man, but he refused to take it.
The process server said she set the papers on the doorstep and told the man that they were his now. She turned to go back to her car, but the man followed, trying to give the papers back to her. He continued to insist she take them as she tried to get in the car, and, according to the woman, he pushed her twice.
Read more here
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Pasco deputies' knock brings supper, not subpoena, during holidays
There was a knock on her door. Someone called out "Sheriff's Office," and Krystal Simonds stiffened.
She remembered the last time authorities came by her home.
In April, Dade City police found her brother-in-law, Charles Andrew Simonds, 37, dead from multiple gunshot wounds to his back.
Five months later, Krystal Simonds' husband was laid off from his job with a Tampa pest control company. The next month, her father-in-law died.
"It has been a rough year," said Simonds, 33.
But the knock on the door Tuesday morning brought good news.
Simonds was one of 540 families that received a food basket as part of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office annual holiday food drive.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Missing mom case: Cops subpoena TV interviews with Susan Powell's husband
West Valley City police want copies of Joshua Powell's interviews with television reporters. Three stations confirmed police have asked for copies of Powell's interviews, including any excerpts which have not been broadcast. ABC Channel 4 reported in a news story Friday it had received a subpoena for the footage. Con Psarras, vice president for news at KSL, did not know whether his station had yet been served with a subpoena. But Psarras said a West Valley City detective called him Friday to say he wanted copies of KSL's interview with Powell. Psarras said KSL has broadcast all of its interview with Powell online or on television and anticipates giving copies to police. "I'm not sure what the principle will be [in fighting a subpoena] because what we have, we've aired," Psarras said. Powell's wife, Susan Powell, has been missing since Dec. 7. Joshua Powell said he last saw her at 12:30 a.m. that day when he took their two young sons on a camping trip.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Lander Hit With WFP-Related Subpoena
Brooklyn Councilman-elect Brad Lander confirmed he is among the Working Families Party candidates to have received a subpoena from the US attorney's office in its probe of the labor-backed party's efforts in the 2009 elections.
Lander told me his campaign received a call Monday (the same day the WFP itself was subpoenaed) informing him that there was a subpoena with his name on it seeking information about the work conducted on his Council bid by the party's for-profit arm, Data and Field Services.
"They said: 'We have a subpoena for you, please call and tell us where to deliver it," said Lander, who got the document in question via fax on Tuesday morning at his Park Slope campaign office."Did I have on my Chanukah list a subpoena from the US attorney? It was not on my Chanukah list. It's a stack of documents to give them. I'm happy to provide them all, and I feel confident that when they review them, they'll find we complied fully with both the letter and spirit of the law."
Lander said his campaign has already provided much of the information the US attorney is now seeking to the Campaign Finance Board.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Police officers 'bitten, punched' by man in Yamba
New South Wales police officers have been attacked twice by a man they attempted to serve with papers on the state's north coast.
Two officers were first assaulted while serving papers on a 30-year-old man at a home in Ballanda Crescent, Yamba, about 4.15pm (AEDT) yesterday.
Police said the man punched a senior constable twice in the head and pushed him into a wall.
The officer retaliated with capsicum spray but failed to subdue the man, who fled and was arrested a short time later at a house in Charles Street, Iluka.
The man was taken to Grafton Police Station where it's alleged he again became aggressive.
He's accused of attempting to bite a sergeant's face before striking him on the head, then biting a constable's arm.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Attorneys in Calais Upset over Processing of Service Papers in Washington County
Attorneys in Calais have come to the city council with problems they say they're having with the Washington County Sheriff's Department.
The issues have been passed on to the Sheriff and are being discussed at Thursday's council meeting.
Meghan Hayward reports.
"It's the inability to get a prompt service and also the atrocious amount of money we pay for a service to process."
Currently, there are three deputies throughout Washington County that can serve documents.
" We don't see complaints from anyone else. We serve papers for everybody in the county, attorneys across the state and across the country, and we don't receive any complaints."
Read more here
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Jennifer Aniston Served Papers at Yoga Party
Jennifer Aniston was all smiles at last week’s SELF Magazine launch of her personal trainer Mandy Ingber’s “Yogalosophy” DVD in West Hollywood.
That is until she was served a summons in an ongoing court case!
Aniston showed up to give support to her yoga mentor Ingber, and talked about her path to yoga enlightenment.
“I had a block; I went to class once years ago and thought this is just a lot of sweaty people and a really small room. I didn't quite get it,” Aniston said. “Then Mandy was like ‘just try it with me one time’ and it was a completely different experience. She motivates you, you start to crave it. You crave that adrenaline. She combines her wisdom of astrology with the mind and the body, and cardio.”
And the result of all those private sessions?
“My body got stronger and everything got stronger,” Aniston added.
One of Ingber’s other pals and clients had a light-hearted bone to pick with the yoga queen.
“I don't have Jennifer Aniston body, what's up with that?” Ricki Lee asked.
“You have Ricki Lake’s body and Ricki Lakes body is hot,” Ingber quickly responded. “You're damn fine.”
What was not "damn fine" was how the party ended for Aniston, as the "Friends" star was served with legal documents on the way out.
Read more here.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Party crashers Salahis face subpoenas Desiree Rogers does not
Reality TV show wannabees Michaele and Tareq Salahi face a subpoena from the House Homeland Security Committee after skipping Thursday's hearing on how they passed through Secret Service checkpoints to crash President Obama's Nov. 24 state dinner and ended up shaking hands with him.
The Democratic chairman of the panel brushed aside a request from the ranking Republican to issue a subpoena forcing social secretary Desiree Rogers also to testify.
Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told the House panel that three Secret Service officers who failed to stop the Salahis have been placed on administrative leave with pay.
Throughout the hearing, Sullivan took the blame for the breach, saying the Secret Service -- not Rogers' operation -- was responsible for security. The Salahis were not stopped -- but should have been, Sullivan said -- at the first of two checkpoints when the Secret Service officer on duty could not find their names on the guest list for the dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
ServeManager, Process Server Software Tool Announces More Intuitive Affidavits of Services
ServeManager, is an online application where legal professionals can collaborate on jobs with process servers. Recently, a new and more intuitive affidavit was released. New features include:
- cleaner layout and more flexible design
- more room for service notes
- multi-page support
- fields expand for job/case information
- client reference # included
- improvements to the notary block and server signature block
- all attempt data available at the time of creation - this can be edited, deleted before the affidavit is created
Monday, November 30, 2009
Blogger accused of crimes subpoenas NJ gov-elect
A New Jersey blogger scheduled to go on trial next week on charges that he threatened three federal judges in hate-filled postings has subpoenaed the state's governor-elect to testify on his behalf.
Harold "Hal" Turner of North Bergen claims that he was a federal government informant and that the postings targeting the judges and other inflammatory statements were part of an undercover operation to ferret out violent left-wing radicals.
In an affidavit filed with the subpoena, Turner lawyer Michael Orozco says Gov.-elect Chris Christie knew of Turner's activities between 2002 and 2008 while Christie was U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. Orozco says Christie issued a letter saying he would not prosecute Turner for his statements.
Read more hereMonday, November 23, 2009
Lawmakers subpoena Suffolk top cop's e-mails
Suffolk County lawmakers on Friday subpoenaed the police commissioner's internal e-mail and memos, expressing strong concern that they've been misled about controversial staffing changes within the department.
The unusual move by the County Legislature's Public Safety Committee creates a possible showdown with County Executive Steve Levy, who has said the subpoenas were part of an ongoing struggle with the police union at a time of fiscal constraint.
The committee approved the subpoena calling for Commissioner Richard Dormer to turn over his written communications with his top brass over recent moves, including the transfer of highway patrols to deputy sheriffs and other cost-cutting staffing changes throughout the department.
"I've not gotten truthful responses," said Legis. Jack Eddington (I-Medford), chairman of the panel.
But Levy branded the subpoenas as "payback" to the Police Benevolent Association "for their endorsements" on Election Day, and said the police staffing changes were designed to cut costs for county taxpayers.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Unwed parents difficult to track
A car is in the driveway, but that might not mean much.
Penny Huston knocks on the door and hopes that the person who answers matches the name on the court document in her hand.
Nope.
"She says he doesn't live here anymore," Huston said. "It goes this way a lot."
At least a hundred times a week, the process server for Subpoena Service Plus parks outside a house or taps a car window or maybe even pretends to deliver flowers -- whatever it takes to serve the court papers seeking support for a child.
The job gets tougher as relationships between parents grow ever more tenuous: Sixty percent of the cases the Franklin County Child Support Enforcement Agency handles involve mothers and fathers who didn't marry in the first place.
"There may be no bond at all," agency Director Susan Brown said. "It's challenging."
The march away from matrimony -- about 40 percent of babies in the U.S. are born to single women -- also has made things hard for the legal system.
Read more hereThursday, November 19, 2009
ServeNow.com Releases ServeManager, Electronic Service of Process Tracking Software
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009
More subpoenas planned in D.C. contracts probe
D.C. Council members say they will issue a second round of subpoenas to government witnesses who failed to appear at a hearing Monday on the execution of a contract for parks and recreation projects that have come under legal scrutiny.
Council member Harry Thomas Jr. said he will draft subpoenas Tuesday to two employees in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development who did not respond to a request to testify.
Mr. Thomas wants director of development David Jannarone and project manager Jacquelyn Glover to explain their roles in an unusual arrangement in which millions of dollars in city funds were transferred from the Department of Parks and Recreation to the D.C. Housing Authority via the deputy mayor's office.
Read more here
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Process Server Shot
A process server was recovering from a gunshot wound in his leg today and the man who allegedly shot him was in custody, an Escondido police official said.
Burk Neal Ashford, 65, allegedly shot the 50-year-old process server around 9 p.m. Tuesday outside Ashford’s home in the 1400 block of Red Bark Road, said Escondido police Lt. Bob Benton.
Ashford called 911 and said he’d shot the victim in the leg, Benton said. Escondido police officers responding to the call were flagged down by the victim on the street, he said. The victim was taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido and treated for a non-life threatening gunshot wound, Benton said.
Officers arrested Ashford and recovered a .22 caliber handgun at the home, Benton said. Ashford was booked at the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and illegal discharge of a weapon, according to jail records.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Man Served Papers On Own Home After Refinance Check Bounces
n early April, Jeff Franson refinanced his mortgage, switching it from Chase to SecurityNational Mortgage Co.
On a sunny Saturday in early October, as he was mowing the front lawn of his Mokena home, a process server drove up and handed Franson papers that showed Chase was planning to foreclose on his home.
Franson was current on his mortgage with SecurityNational. But the $93,702.51 check cut by Counselors' Title Co. to pay off the Chase loan bounced. After months of phone calls and letters between Franson, his attorney and the companies involved, Chase filed foreclosure papers in Will County Circuit Court.
For consumers refinancing mortgages, sitting down in a sterile conference room of a title company is considered the last step, a formality, in the loan process. After signing a thick stack of documents, borrowers leave happy that they've just saved money by obtaining a lower interest rate.
But like any business transaction involving the transfer of large sums of money, risks loom, and trusting consumers can pay the price. Franson and at least seven other Midwestern homeowners who did business with Counselors are wondering what's in store for their homes and what happened to the $1.6 million that was supposed to pay off their loans.
The Illinois attorney general's office confirmed last week that it is investigating the now-shuttered Counselors' Title, a real estate title insurance agency that had six offices in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, after receiving three consumer complaints. The state also began investigating two other, but unspecified, title companies in the past several months. All the complaints involve mortgage refinancing and situations in which the payoff checks to the original mortgage holders bounced or wire transfers were never deposited in accounts.
"There's a very similar fact pattern we're looking into," said spokeswoman Natalie Bauer. "These are homeowners who were trusting these companies to protect their interests and take responsible actions, and now you have consumers in danger of potentially losing their homes."
Late Friday, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation issued a cease and desist order against Counselors and its three principals, James Erwin and Shari Erwin of Chicago and Damian Sichak of Homer Glen, meaning they cannot easily operate a title agency in Illinois.
"It will be on their records with the state of Illinois," said spokeswoman Sue Hofer. "We have no authority to make victims whole. We can stop them from doing it to the next person but don't have the legal authority to reverse the financial loss."
Read more here.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Hailey Glassman to Be Subpoenaed in Jon Gosselin Lawsuit
Jon Gosselin's girlfriend Hailey Glassman and his friend Michael Lohan are among the witnesses TLC plans to subpoena in a breach of contract lawsuit filed against the reality star, according to new court papers.
Maryland's Circuit Court of Montgomery County has granted motions filed by the network's lawyers to depose Glassman, 22, Lindsay Lohan's dad Michael, 49, as well as Gosselin's lawyer Mark Heller, manager Michael Heller, bodyguard Thomas Meinelt and his talent rep Matthew Kirschner.
In October, TLC sued Gosselin, 32, for breach of contract, accusing the Jon & Kate Plus 8 star of making paid and unpaid television appearances without TLC's permission.
Read more here.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Mayor served with claim before council meeting
Safford Mayor Ron Green was served with a small claims court complaint Monday at the only place the process server could find him — the Safford City Council meeting.
The complaint requests Green pay the remainder of the amount due for various signs and decals he ordered from Kim's Window Tinting. The signs and decals were for a new newspaper spearheaded by Green, the Southwest Express News, and were picked up on May 4. Some of the signs were a large banner Green used in the Cinco De Mayo Parade and magnetic signs he placed on his own truck. Kim Prentice, the owner of Kim's Window Tinting, told the Courier that Green said payment for the signs would be in the mail.
After waiting more than a month, Prentice called Green for payment. She said he told her he was having problems financially and asked if he could make payments on his bill, which was about $1,000. He then charged $200 toward the bill on his personal credit card June 23. The Southwest Express News' last issue went out the following day, and the publication was suspended due to restructuring, according to Green. A Courier reporter went to the publication's office in Green's building Downtown on Friday and found it locked and deserted.
Prentice's records show Green made another $200 payment June 30, but he has not made a payment since then. After failing to make a payment for three months, Prentice wrote a text message to Green asking for payment Sept. 8. Green allegedly called Prentice a couple of hours later, and the two argued before Green hung up on her. Prentice then filed a claim the next day for the $603.10 still owed — plus interest. She told the Courier since Green would not sign a certified letter in reference to the claim, she will be including the cost of having to hire a process server to notify him.
Read more here.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Sussex sheriff takes over delivery of court docs
GEORGETOWN -- The county sheriff's office is moving forward with a plan to deliver Family Court documents, which could lead to an $80,000 contract being returned to the county government.
Under the plan, the county sheriff's office will take back those duties.
Read more here.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Pepsi Co. No Show in Court Could Cost them 1.26 Billion.
It's an expensive lesson on the importance of reading your mail.
A Wisconsin judge has ordered PepsiCo Inc to pay $1.26 billion to two men who said it stole their idea to sell purified water after a secretary mislaid a document alerting the world's No. 2 soft drink maker the lawsuit existed.
The case was reported earlier on Wednesday by The National Law Journal. The judgment amount is equal to more than 20 percent of PepsiCo's reported annual profits in recent years, regulatory filings show.
According to filings with the Jefferson County Circuit Court, Charles Joyce and James Voigt won the September 30 judgment five months after first suing PepsiCo and two distributors.
The Wisconsin men said they talked with the distributors in 1981 about their idea to bottle and sell purified water and that PepsiCo later stole the idea by creating Aquafina.
The complaint was filed on April 28, but PepsiCo said the legal department at its Purchase, New York headquarters was not alerted to the case until around September 18, when secretary Kathy Henry received a letter for her supervisor Tom Tamoney.
Henry, however, put the letter aside and did not tell anyone about it or enter it into her log "because she was so busy preparing for a board meeting," according to PepsiCo's October 13 motion asking the court not to enforce the judgment.
Read more here.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Change! Is the Process Serving Business Doing Enough to Remain Relevant?
By Jeff H. Karotkin
Change – what is it and what does it mean?
If you Google “change” you will find dozens of definitions… for the purposes of this discussion, the change I am referring to could also be referred to as “shift” or “shift happens” or maybe even more accurately “shift is happening all around us”.
The change and shift that is happening all around us is difficult to measure as it is in constant movement and is even more difficult to stay ahead of. Whether we like it or not, change and shift does not care what we think. Change does not care what we believe; it does care if we would like things to stay the same in order to preserve the integrity of our profession. I have heard some say that the best we can do is acknowledge that the world is changing and attempt to manage how that change might affect the future of our profession. I believe we can do better; I believe we must embrace change if we hope to be successful.
Over the last five years or so, I have participated on a few panel discussions about what is happening in the courts, with a focus on how eFiling and eService and how it is effecting the process serving profession. During the first of these panel discussions five years ago… I presented some information about the RIO case. That case for those of you who are not familiar with it was one of the first Appellate Court cases that allowed a Summons and Complaint to be served electronically. Since then there have been several cases that have cited RIO and that have allowed for e-service under similar circumstances. My point is what might not seem like a big deal might actually end up being the catalyst for more dramatic change or the shift in the laws and practices that effect the service of process.
Ten years ago, who would have predicted that there would be process serving agencies today that operate almost every aspect of their business electronically? No physical paper is picked up by or received by the process serving agency. Where all assignments are placed online, received online and dispatched electronically all without touching a single sheet of paper. All proofs of service, all status reports and all invoices are sent to the customers electronically. No paper at all. Yes they still need to serve a paper document. Sound far fetched? It is already happening.
Process Servers customers are eFiling in jurisdictions all over the country. In some cases those customers are not generating paper at all. They are either signing the electronic document digitally or not at all…
My point is the adoption of technology is effecting how law firms interact with the courts, opposing counsel, their customers and their vendors. Technology is also enabling process serving companies some of the same advantages. One might argue that a logical extension of the use of technology is that electronic service of process might become more and more prevalent. Mind you it has not become common; it is the exception rather than the rule. But make no mistake, that change is coming. I am not suggesting process servers role over and let change happen to them. On the contrary I am pointing out that process servers have the power to decide if we want to be part of the solution and effect change that helps protect the integrity of the profession. I am suggesting that process servers must protect a key element of due process by insisting that no matter what change or shift happens the concept of a disinterested third party that can attest to the facts related to the service of process is vital and necessary to insure that parties’ rights are protected and preserved.
If you doubt for a moment that the private process serving profession will not face the threat of process being served electronically on a scale that we may not be able to imagine, I invite you watch the following link to a video clip and then ask yourself if it is possible:
I believe that process servers will see this threat realized other countries first, like India, China, Great Britain, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. It has already happened in New Zealand and Australia earlier this year. In both countries, courts have allowed instances of service of process electronically to a defendant’s Facebook account.
On the home front all it would take to get the ball rolling is an amendment to Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Such an amendment has been suggested by some that believe it is a simple as adding the following language to Rule 4(e) (3).
The following section was reprinted from an article written by Jeremy Colby, Esq a partner at the New York firm Webster Szanyi LLP in 2006:
By adding the following language to Rule 4(e) (3)
“by delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to the individual via electronic means such as electronic mail or facsimile where directed by the court.”
That coupled with a corresponding amendment to Rule 4(h) (1) as follows:
“in a judicial district of the United States in the manner prescribed for individuals by subdivisions (e) (1) or (e) (3), or by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint . . . .”
Amending Rule 4(e) and Rule 4(h)(1) in this manner would permit e-SOP upon individuals and corporate entities inside the United States in the same manner that is currently allowed under Rule 4(f)(3) for service outside the United States and for actions pending in the federal courts.
Such an amendment could lead to a disruption to the traditional manners of effecting service of process not just in the federal courts but in the state courts that follow the federal rules.
Mr. Colby’s article is the most comprehensive I have seen on the topic of electronic service of process and is a must read if you want to understand the history of electronic service of process and want to have a glimpse of what the future might hold if the profession does not embrace change and make it work for them. If you would like a copy of his article please send me an email requesting same and I will forward it to you.
What does ALL this mean? What are process servers supposed to do? What is their vision for the future? How will they remain relevant? What can NAPPS or other professional process serving organizations do to protect, promote and preserve the private process serving profession?
I challenge you to start asking yourself, the NAPPS leadership and the leadership of your state association these important questions. Together through a collaborative effort utilizing the collective skills and resources I believe process servers can start to formulate a thoughtful and proactive approach to address these challenges. I believe in order to effect change you must EMBRACE CHANGE.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Massive Service Frauds Alleged in NY
A woman who says a law firm and process server lied about serving her with a collections complaint claims that "nearly 100,000 default judgments have been entered in the New York Courts based upon false affidavits from process servers working for defendant ALP [American Legal Process]."
Margaret Murtagh says that in July the New York attorney general sued 35 law firms that used American Legal Process because "nearly 100,000 default judgments have been entered in the New York Courts based upon false affidavits from process servers" working for it.
Murtagh claims she was a victim of identity theft in 2004 and found unauthorized charges on her American Express card. She says AmEx refused to remove all the disputed charges and hired Zwicker & Associates to collect.
Murtagh says Zwicker is one of the law firms that was sued for working with ALP; she claims it falsified an affidavit of service to obtain a default judgment against her.
Read more here.
Friday, October 16, 2009
You've Been Served - Without Ever Leaving Your Computer
When most people think of being served with legal documents, they picture the process server knocking at the door, literally the bearer of bad news.
Popular culture has perpetuated the image of the process server as someone who resorts to trickery and even disguises in order to catch their elusive prey - those who are desperately hoping to evade being served with, say, divorce papers or a summons announcing that they've been sued for millions of dollars.
But in today's digital age, emerging media may be making it easier to reach out and serve someone.
In December 2008, the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court approved the use of popular social networking site Facebook to serve a Canberra couple with notice that they were losing their home after defaulting on a loan.
Read more here.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Reform of Fruadulent Process Service in NYC Addressed by Council Member Garodnick
Although this news is not breaking news, we thought it an appropriate video to post in an effort to continue to bring awareness to the process serving industry. Ethical behavior should be at the forefront of every business, especially ours. Please feel free to post comments about the content and the direction in which legislation is moving.
Watch video on youtube.com here.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Britney's Ex Faces a Year in Jail for Running Over Process Server
Britney's Spears' ex boyfriend Adnan Ghalib, pled no contest to leaving the scene of an accident in court Friday.
The ex paparazzo allegedly ran over a process server back in February with his Mercedes.
The process server, Ram Moskowitz, was trying to serve Ghalib with a restraining order to stay away from Britney. To avoid being pinned against a trash truck Moskowitz jumped on the hood of the Mercedes before falling off and breaking his wrist.
Read more here.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Newark court OK's subpoenas for billionaire's fortune
A Superior Court judge in Newark has refused to block subpoenas requiring relatives of one of the world’s wealthiest men to provide information about the companies that formed his empire.
In the ongoing family dispute over Yung-Ching Wang’s fortune, Judge Walter Koprowski Jr. on Friday rejected a request by Wang’s daughter, Susan Wang, to dismiss the lawsuit, said Jennifer Berkowitz, a spokesman for Y.C. Wang’s eldest son, Winston Wen-Young Wong. Koprowski also ordered the billionaire’s companies controlled by her to reveal his assets in New Jersey at or near the time of his death, Berkowitz said
Wang, founder of Formosa Plastics Group, died in October 2008 without a will, leaving his nine children fighting over his fortune estimated at more than $8 billion. Formosa’s U.S. headquarters is in Livingston.
Read more here.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Twitter Used to Serve Papers
In what was no doubt the first ever 140-character legal document, the British High Court has served an anonymous web-pest an injunction via Twitter. This is the first time the microblogging service has been used to execute a court order.
The Court issued an injunction against an unknown Twitter member who used the name and likeness of a law firm owner (poor choice of victim) to spread conservative messages. The Court decided that the user had unlawfully impersonated the lawyer, one Donal Blaney, and that since the defendant was unknown, Twitter would be the best way to notify the criminal.
Read more here.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick Issued Subpoenas for Financial Records
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy issued subpoenas today for all of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s bank and financial records, the records of his wife, Carlita, as well as those of anyone else holding anything on their behalf.
Also being sought in a separate subpoena are Kilpatrick’s payroll, travel allowance, loans, gifts and other payments from Compuware. The subpoena also seeks information on payments to anyone else on Kilpatrick’s behalf.
Kilpatrick was hired by Covisint, a Compuware subsidiary, as a sales representative after his release from jail on obstruction of justice charges. Kilpatrick moved to a gated community in Southlake, a posh suburb of Dallas.
Kilpatrick has been slow in paying court-ordered restitution stemming from his criminal prosecution by Worthy’s office.
Read more here.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Process Server Sues Police
A private process server filed suit Tuesday saying police refused to intervene when a business' security guards would not let him serve garnishment papers on an employee.
Charles Fineberg says in the Circuit Court suit that civil private process servers have the same power as sheriff's deputies, who also serve civil process and court orders and that it is a criminal offense for anyone to prevent a process server from serving papers.
In incidents in June and July, the suit says, Fineberg was denied access to the Nike plant by security personnel from Guardsmark and police told him they were advised from "on high" not to get involved in the matter.
Read more here.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Old Dominion University Served Papers
Old Dominion University has been served legal papers in a criminal investigation of the school's aborted $40,000-a-year contract with state Del. Phil Hamilton.
That acknowledgment came from ODU this week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Virginian-Pilot.
The university said it has received three documents related to the Hamilton matter but declined to identify them in detail or provide copies. Two are being withheld because they relate to a criminal investigation and the third pursuant to a court order prohibiting its disclosure.
Read more here.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Process Server Serves Federal Prisoner for State Farm
The former Biloxian has been imprisoned since 1990 because he led a theft ring that chopped up stolen vehicles, then used the parts on wrecked cars for resell at a profit.
So, imagine Clark’s surprise when insurance behemoth State Farm sued him for carelessly causing a house to catch fire in November 2003 while his alleged company was in the process of moving it.
Clark was considered legally notified of the lawsuit in July 2006. A process server said he left the paperwork at Clark’s “usual place of abode” in Wiggins. Because Clark did not initially respond to the lawsuit, State Farm filed a motion for judgement in the company’s favor.
Read more here.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Process Server Serves Papers to 72 Year Old Woman Who is Being Sued By Her Favorite Football Team
It’s almost time for that annual rite of Fall — the kickoff of the NFL season. Only this year, quite a few season ticket holders will be sitting at home with a lawsuit in their lap instead of a set of pom-poms.
The Washington Post has a compelling story about Redskins’ season ticket holders who’ve asked out of their multi-year contracts because of financial hardship. Instead of that happening, many of them have been sued by the team. The list includes Pat Hill, about as diehard a Redskins fan as they come:Read more here.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Britney Spears' Ex-Boyfriend Pleads Not Guilty to Assaulting a Process Server
BRITNEY SPEARS’ ex-boyfriend, paparazzo ADNAN GHALIB, has pleaded not guilty to assaulting a process server.
Ghalib is accused of running over Ram Moskowitz as he tried to hand the photographer legal papers as part of the Toxic superstar’s conservatorship case in 2008.
Read more here.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Process Server Knocked Out While Trying to Deliver Speed-Camera Ticket
A process server delivering a speed-camera ticket in Gilbert was punched so hard, he was knocked out, according to an article today by Channel 15 (KNXV-TV).
The process server dropped off his paperwork for the woman in the speed-camera photo and was suddenly cold-cocked by the woman's husband. The punch knocked out the server, the article says. Denny Dobbins, a lawyer for the process-serving company, AAA Photo Safety, had this to say to Channel 15:
Read more here.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Bill Regarding Service of Process
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D) of Rhode Island has introduced a bill that would require foreign companies that import goods into the United States to designate registered agents in the U.S. that are authorized to accept service of process on behalf of the manufacturer.
Read the text of the bill here.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Celebrity photographer faces lawsuit over $24 million rennovation
A legal row has broken out over the renovations of two historic properties in New York owned by international celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.
A company that lent the photographer $24 million to renovate the 19th century red brick, vine covered buildings has filed a law suit claiming she is in breach of contract.
Art Capital claims that the loan was backed by the negatives and intellectual property rights to every photograph Leibovitz has ever taken, and by property she owns.
Read more here.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Belize Accedes to Hague Convention
Belize has become the most recent country to join the Hague Convention, affecting international service of process.
Read more here.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Process Server Falsifies 200 Affidavits
The case of a Hennepin County process server who allegedly falsified multiple affidavits of service has created a tremendous amount of work for the District Court and for the three law firms that used him to serve debtors with summonses and complaints.
Read more here.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Adnana Ghalib Back in Court for Hitting Process Server
Britney Spears former paparazzo boyfriend Adnan Ghalib was back in a Los Angeles court Wednesday to answer charges that he ran over a process server with his Mercedes.
Read more here.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
New York AG Sues to Overturn Default Judgments
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is going to court to try to overturn about 100,000 default judgments he claims were improperly obtained against consumers — including more than 6,000 in Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties. The lawsuit, filed this week in state Supreme Court in Erie County, names as defendants 35 law firms and two debt collection agencies who relied on a Long Island company, American Legal Process, to notify consumers they faced debt-related lawsuits. Read more here.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Illegal Download Site Pirate Bay Gets Served Via Facebook, Twitter
Never let it be said that the music industry is completely clueless about the digital world; the Dutch antipiracy outfit Brein, perhaps realizing that the medium may be more important than the message a lot of the time these days, has notified the founders of the BitTerrorist haven Pirate Bay that they’re due in court not through a process server, but via Facebook and Twitter.
Read more here.
Monday, June 22, 2009
AZ Couple Allegedly Points Shotgun at Process Server
Sheriff's deputies questioned a Prescott couple after a woman allegedly pointed a shotgun at a process server Thursday.
According to Yavapai County Sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn, the official went to the home on L Bar L Road to serve foreclosure papers to the homeowner.
Read more here.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Whitler Receives Life + 48 Years for Killing CO Process Server
James Whitler knew before his sentencing hearing Monday he'd be spending the rest of his life in prison for murdering Stephen Allen, but Judge Dan Kaup made sure the Loveland father's violent actions toward his children also carried significance through punishment.
The judge sentenced Whitler to an additional 48 years in prison to be served consecutively to the murder sentence for trying to strangle his children to death May 28, 2008.
Read more here.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Million Dollar Connecticut Marshal
John T. Fiorillo is the million-dollar marshal.
Boosted by his ties to the state's two major foreclosure firms, Fiorillo, a Hartford County marshal, reported a net income of more than $1 million for delivering court papers in 2008, according to disclosure forms filed with the Office of State Ethics.
Law firms paid Fiorillo more than $3 million to serve legal papers last year. But he reported spending nearly two-thirds of that on employee and office expenses, leaving him with a bottom line of $1,119,706. Fiorillo's take was more than double the next-highest-earning marshal.
Read more here.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Court Case With Unserved Summons in MN
Imagine opening up the mail and finding out you're in default—a judge issuing a judgment against you that could lead to your financial ruin. It’s happened to up to 200 people in Hennepin County, all by mistake. Authorities say one man is to blame and he could go to prison. Angus Mceachern, 23, had one key job: Serve people with papers saying they're being sued for owing money. But investigators say he never did that and now 1,000 cases are under review. Read more here.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Britney's Ex to Stand Trial for Hitting Process Server with Car
While he's out of Britney Spears' (non pink) hair these days, paparazzo Adnan Ghalib is still finding ways to stir up trouble. Brit's sometime ex-boyfriend will appear for a preliminary hearing May 18 to set a trial date in the case involving a process server he allegedly hit with his car, TMZ reports.
Read more here.
Man Who Killed Process Server Testifies
Jurors in James Whitler's murder trial saw a video recording Tuesday of Whitler telling authorities he began beating Stephen Allen, the man he's accused of murdering, after he came to view the process server as the object of his marriage's lost hope.
Whitler also told investigators he was praying to God to take care of his two children while he strangled them after beating Allen.
If sheriff's deputies hadn't stopped him, he said he probably would have killed his children and then himself.
Read more here.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Head of American Legal Process Arrested for Alleged "Sewer Service"
One process server claimed to have made 13 round-trips in one day to serve legal papers between Brooklyn and upstate Cattaraugus County - a nearly 800-mile distance supposedly made more than a dozen times within 24 hours.
That was one of the many egregious examples of fraud cited by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who Tuesday announced the arrest of Long Islander William Singler, head of one of the largest process-serving firms in the state. Singler is charged with running a massive fraud scheme in which his employees claimed to serve legal papers that allegedly were never delivered.
As a result of the actions by Singler, the head of American Legal Process in Lynbrook, and the process servers he employed, thousands from Long Island and around the state never had notice of pending legal actions against them by creditors, and never had a chance to contest them, Cuomo said. Consequently, many had their finances frozen or wages garnished, without being present for a court hearing, the attorney general said.
Read more here.
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