May 18-19, 2012 - Palm Beach County Justice Association 13th Annual Fishing Tournament, Lake Park Harbor & Marina

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The Best of Both: Cooperation between Investigators and Process Servers    

Many professionals provide services to attorneys, both as licensed investigators and certified process servers. I count many of these individuals as friends and respect their talents and abilities.

In this article I will identify distinct differences between the two services and the professionals who render them. These differences are not distinctions based on character and capability, but distinctions based on assignments and economics.

A civil process server is a professional charged with delivering summons, subpoenas, and other process run in civil actions throughout the state.¹ In the course of this work, process servers conduct efforts to locate witnesses or defendants to effect lawful service. This may consist of conducting cursory interviews of neighbors, family members, employers (if known or developed), or associates, in order to determine the subject's current whereabouts.

Process servers who are licensed investigators may have access to proprietary databases, which they may use to conduct routine "skip tracing" investigations. These databases provide information about real property, vehicle registrations, and family and associate contact information.