I am writing this message upon my return from our board meeting and the 3rd Annual State Summit held in Tampa, Florida. Over 35 members were in attendance for both meetings. Members had an opportunity to see firsthand how your board of directors interacts and works hard and for the benefit of our membership.
Thomas MacDonald and MaryLee Rustand, with the help of John Perez and Tony Klein, put together an informative State Summit program, which emphasized the importance of education. It appeared that all attendees came away with a good understanding of the direction in which NAPPS is heading as well as what we should be striving to do in our own states. As always, Don Eisenberg, Andy Estin and Al Crowe contributed much to the program.
In other news, on January 8, 2002 our bid was filed with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Our goal, as I have written in The Docket Sheet and spoken about at our conventions, has been to assume the duties of the Central Authority of the U.S. Justice Department with regard to the service of process from foreign jurisdictions. NAPPS has been moving toward this goal since 1991, when we were approached by the Union Internationale Des Huissiers de Justice (International Association of Judicial Officers) located in Paris, France. Members of the Union have waited anywhere from nine months to two years to have documents served by our government. In an effort to speed up the process, NAPPS approached the U.S. Justice Department and discussed the long delays in effecting foreign service. In turn, the DOJ asked NAPPS to develop a proposal that would solve the problem. This process has served to advance our organization's reputation with the U.S. government as the authoritative voice of the United States process service industry. There is no doubt that if NAPPS were selected to handle this work for the Justice Department, we could have a greater say in how rules are made and changed to promote and protect the process service industry.
We have already experienced positive developments though our relationship with the UIHJ. As was reported in TDS a few years ago, I was appointed to a rules committee regarding the service of process by electronic means through The Hague Service Convention. The meeting was held in Geneva, Switzerland. I, along with two members of the UIHJ, was influential in convincing the members of our committee not to permit this method of service. This was a significant victory that will have a long lasting effect on our industry. If it weren't for NAPPS' involvement with this project, we wouldn't have been in a position to influence this important issue. Therefore, it is essential that NAPPS maintain an ongoing relationship with our friends at the Union Internationale des Huissiers de Justice.
I hope you will join us as we celebrate NAPPS' 20th Anniversary at the NAPPS 2002 Annual Conference in San Diego, California. An excellent program is being arranged and you'll never find a better opportunity to network with your friends and colleagues in the industry. I look forward to seeing you there!
