The 2005-06 term of this administration is drawing near.
This term will end on May 20, 2006, with the election of
new officers and directors to serve this association for
the ensuing year. Traditionally, the presidents’ messages
at this point in time have been of reflections of past
accomplishments. Instead of boasting on what has been
done, I prefer to take this opportunity to talk about what,
in my opinion, continues to need to be done for this
association, and the process serving industry. I highlight
but a few of my concerns.
Proposed Bylaw Amendments
At the last annual conference, I introduced several bylaw
amendments, one of which was tabled by the
membership. That proposed bylaw amendment
essentially called for a re-structuring of the board and the
institution of a five-year term limit for individual
members of the board of directors. I felt then, as I do
now, that this would benefit the association by allowing
for a healthy rotation of seasoned and new members on
the board of directors. At this year’s annual conference,
I intend to move this proposal forward for a vote.
Other members have submitted proposed bylaw
amendments that have been published to the membership
in the April, 2006 monthly supplement. Although my
proposed term limit bylaw amendment has not been
reprinted in either that supplement or in this issue of The
Docket Sheet, it was previously published to the
membership. Copies are currently available to any
interested member by contacting me at:
newjerseylegal@aol.com.
Education
At the last annual conference, the membership adopted
the Standards for Process Server Courses of Study as an
expression of what are considered important topics that
should be presented to private process servers in
educational programs. Those standards, without further
action to implement them, are merely a publicly stated
opinion by this association. In order to implement those
standards, I will be proposing at the annual conference
two items. First, the adoption of a new policy for the
review and approval of process server education
programs. Second, the adoption of a procedure for the
recognition of member educational achievements
through participation in approved process server
education programs.
These proposals are intended to supplement the
Standards adopted at the last annual conference and to
recognize and support locally provided courses of study.
These are not intended to establish a NAPPS provided
certification and continuing education program as I had
previously announced. A copy of these proposals may
be viewed on the NAPPS web site under the sub-banner
of “Continuing Education”.
Extended Sunday Seminars
As previously announced, we will be experimenting with
the feasibility of extending our annual conferences by
one day to provide additional educational experiences.
This year, two seminars will be presented on Sunday,
May 21, 2006. Please refer to the Schedule of Events for
the Annual Conference in this issue of TDS or the
NAPPS web site for more information.
Best Practices for Service of Process.
At the last annual conference, the membership also
established the Best Practices for Service of Process as
an expression of the preferred methods of service. Those
Best Practices were subsequently amended by the Board
of Directors to clarify and enhance our industry’s
position. Throughout the year, the Standards and Best
Practices Committee chaired by Tony Klein has
recommended a further amendment to these Best
Practices to clearly provide a distinction between inperson
service of process and service by alternative
means, and a consequence resulting from the latter. That
consequence would be a 3-day delay in the effective date
of service when service is accomplished by alternative
means, including e-service. The committee’s latest
report is included in this issue of TDS. I strongly support
its recommendation.
Electronic Service of Process
Throughout the year, the E-Filing/E-Service Committee
chaired by Jeff Karotkin has reported developments in
the ABA Committee on Science and Technology Law,
and the trend toward the implementation of standards
and technology to accommodate electronic service of
process, especially by the large registered agent
companies. The current sentiment is that e-service, at
first among willing participants, is an eventuality that we
as an industry may not be able to prevent. This does not
mean, however, that we cannot have an impact on the
standards and rules that are ultimately adopted regarding
electronic service of process.
Since the last annual conference, when the NAPPS Best
Practices for Service of Process were adopted, and
subsequently amended, the ABA Best Practices for
Electronic Service of Process have been modified to the
extent that there is now commentary which clarifies
some otherwise ambiguous language. One section of the
commentaries reads, in part, “electronic mail is never
sufficient as a general rule to reliably establish
electronic service of process”. This is a concern and
position that was expressed in our earlier criticism of the
ABA Best Practices. I believe that our Best Practices
have now had an influence on what has been written
lately. Our continued participation on the ABA
committee and other forums is essential.
Continued vigilance over pending litigation or court rule
proposals that may allow for electronic service of
process in a manner that is adverse to the process serving
industry is also of utmost importance. We had the
opportunity last year to affect proposed legislation in
North Carolina that appeared to be permitting service of
process by electronic means. Through our intervention,
the proposed legislation was modified to specifically
preclude service of a summons by electronic mail.
NAPPS must be prepared to take similar action when
other situations present themselves.
Technology Criteria Committee
At the February, 2006 Board of Directors meeting,
discussions were held on the prospect of this association
becoming involved with technology companies that
provide systems for the electronic transfer of documents,
e-filing, and possibly e-service functions. This
involvement could be either by entering into cooperative
agreements such as CAPPS has with a
company in California, or by endorsing or participating
with other companies to achieve these goals. As a result
of the consensus of the board of directors, I have created
a new committee called the “Technology Criteria
Committee” and have appointed Keith McMaster of
Excel Investigations, Tinley, Park, IL to chair this
committee.
The purpose of this committee is to gather information
from a variety of sources and to develop a list of
important criteria, or standards, that are relevant to the
process serving industry, and NAPPS, when considering
systems for the electronic transfer of documents and
data. These transfers may be from clients to members,
from member to member, from members to court e-filing
systems, and from members, as trusted, disinterested
process servers, to parties. This information can be
useful when considering the endorsement of any system
for use by NAPPS members, or for the creation of
independent software applications that would allow
members to exchange work electronically and perform
other related tasks. The committee chair has invited
commentary from process server software providers and
others. More on the activities of this committee will be
reported at the annual conference.
International Relations
Throughout the year, the International Relations
Committee, chaired by Fred Blum, has reported
extensively on the prior and current activities of this
association regarding international activities. In the last
issue of TDS, I presented my analysis and assessment of
our involvement in this area as well. This topic will be
further discussed at the annual conference, especially
since one of the bylaw proposals submitted by another
member raises the issue of our continued participation in
international activity.
In order to provide some perspective to this issue, a
seminar will be presented by Cara LaForge, of Legal
Language Services, and Celeste Ingalls, of Crowe
Foreign Services. In my opinion, this is an important
seminar that should be attended by all members at the
annual conference, especially before discussions take
place, and a vote is taken, on any bylaw amendment
regarding our international activity.
Participation at the Annual Conference
Throughout the year, I have been urging our members to
attend and participate in our annual conference. The
experience is very worthwhile. It will afford members
the opportunity to meet and greet other members for
socialization and networking. The educational seminars
planned for this year are very informative and of great
benefit to our members. The issues to be discussed and
voted upon at the conference are very important to our
association, and to this industry. The election of new
officers and directors for the coming year will determine
the direction of this association. Your participation is
essential.
Lastly, in order to vote on any issue, bylaw amendment
or election of officers and directors, a member must be in
attendance at the conference to cast a vote. Your
opinions do matter. Please share the experience with us.
There is still time to register for the conference.
