Also known as: personal service · personally served · personally serve process
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A method of giving notice in a legal proceeding by delivering the summons or other process directly into the hands of the named individual. This form of service supplies a traditional basis for a court to exercise personal jurisdiction over the recipient.
Pioneer Energy sued former employee Phuong Pham for breach of a non-compete. A process server handed the summons and complaint directly to Pham at her residence. Because the papers were delivered into her hands while she was present in the forum, the court obtained personal jurisdiction over her.
While attending a one-day conference in State A, Priscilla Parks was handed a summons and complaint by a process server in the hotel lobby. The suit concerned events that occurred entirely in State B. The court in State A may exercise personal jurisdiction over Parks because she was personally served while physically present in the forum.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
After moving to State X, Philip Powell was personally served with registration papers for a child-support order while attending a training seminar in State K. The State K court may exercise personal jurisdiction over Powell on the basis of that service within the state.
Paula Pierce was personally handed a summons while attending a one-day training seminar in the forum state. The underlying claim arose from events in another state. The court acquired personal jurisdiction over Pierce solely because she received personal service of process while physically present in the forum.
In a trust accounting proceeding involving hundreds of beneficiaries, the trustee mailed notice to every person whose name and address were known. The court held that due process requires personal service or the best practical alternative for known parties rather than publication alone.
Piper Patel was personally served with a summons while temporarily present in the forum state on business. Under traditional territorial principles, that service alone gave the state court power to render a binding in-personam judgment against her.
Yes when the defendant is served while physically present in the forum state. Traditional doctrine recognizes physical presence plus personal service as a sufficient basis for in-personam jurisdiction even if the defendant’s stay is brief and the claim is unrelated to the forum.
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No. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(c)(2) requires that service be made by a nonparty who is at least eighteen years old. Service by a party is defective even if the defendant actually receives the papers.
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Due process requires the best practical means reasonably calculated to reach known or ascertainable parties. Personal service or mail is necessary for those whose identities and addresses are known. Publication alone is insufficient for them.
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Yes. Under Uniform Interstate Family Support Act § 201(a)(1), a tribunal may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident when the individual is personally served with process within the state.
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…of appeal in the state Supreme Court as in other civil cases. In this case notice of assessment for the years in question was personally served upon a sales solicitor employed by appellant in the State of Washington, and a copy of the notice was mailed by registered mail to appellant at its address in St. Louis, Missouri. Appellant…