Serving outside of New York will be more time-consuming and laborious than in-state service of process. For instance, interstate guidelines must be considered. Which state’s rules do you follow? How do you domesticate a subpoena?
If you or your legal counsel is planning to take a case to a different state, you’ll need to have a good understanding of one of the first and most important steps you need to take to get started. The following are some of the top things you should know about serving process out of state.
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There’s no need to hire a lawyer from another state.
Under the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act (UIDDA), plaintiffs no longer have to obtain legal counsel located in the state where the process needs to be served. This applies to serving out-of-state subpoenas for deposition, acquiring of evidence, or summoning of witnesses. They simply need to have the subpoena reissued by the court clerk from that state. Once this step has been completed, the document can be served.
It’s crucial to note that as of 2021, 43 out of the 50 U.S. states have enacted the policy. The non-UIDDA states include Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Hampshire, and Wyoming. If you need to serve a subpoena in these locations, your legal team or process server will have to follow the service guidelines established in the individual state.
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You don’t need two process servers, one from each state.
If you’re already working with one, your process server can help you with serving subpoenas out of New York. This means you no longer have to hire a local server from the other state.
It’s important to note that various states have different rules when it comes to serving documents. For this reason, it would be wise to hire process servers who already have experience with out-of-state subpoena domestication and service of process. Doing so would help prevent delays.
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Service of process must comply with the guidelines of the foreign state.
Service of process must comply with the guidelines of the foreign state.Process servers would need to follow the rules at the state where the subpoena was domesticated. For instance, they need to properly schedule the service as some states ban service of process on Sundays or holidays.
For example, here are the states that prohibit service on Sundays and/or holidays:
- Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia – No service on Sundays
- Minnesota – No service on Sundays and holidays
- New York – No service on Sundays and upon individuals who consider Saturday as a holy day
- Tennessee – No service on Sundays unless ordered by the court
- Texas – Certain restrictions are implemented for service on Sundays; guidelines vary depending on the type of document that needs to be delivered
Partner with a Trusted Out-Of-State Process Server
Serve Index LLC’s process servers are knowledgeable and experienced in handling the domestication and serving of subpoenas outside New York. We guarantee that process of service will be performed correctly and in a timely manner.
Beyond serving subpoenas, we provide other legal support services such as court filing, skip tracing, foreclosure, and document retrieval.
Leverage the benefits of working with skilled process servers. Reach out to us at 1-888-994-6639 or [email protected] to get a free quote.
