CALSPro - California Association of Legal Support Professionals

9 Steps To Take If You’re Involved In A Process Server Assault

Posted May 31, 2018 in Process Service

Unfortunately, assault is a risk inherent with the process serving profession. While prevention of assault is ideal, aggressive reactions, physical violence and even the threat of death are all possible when you work in the field. This guide is intended to be a quick reference for process servers who are assaulted in the performance of their duties. You may not be thinking clearly having just been assaulted, so the following paragraphs outline the basic steps you should take if you are involved in an assault incident.

STEP 1: GET TO A SAFE PLACE

Remove yourself from the situation. Now is not the time to consider pride or righteousness. Walk, run or drive far enough away so you can collect your thoughts and gather your emotions.

STEP 2: ASSESS INJURIES

Once in a safe place, thoroughly assess any injuries you have sustained. If you are hurt, how badly? What may seem minor to you at the time could be more serious than you think. Consider getting checked out, both as a health/safety precaution, and also to have a record of the injuries. Take pictures showing any immediate marks. If you need medical attention, make sure that you can get there by yourself.  Don’t take a chance, especially with head injuries. Call for a ride, or dial 911 if appropriate.

STEP 3: ASSESS DAMAGE

Check your clothes, and personal property in your possession for any damage. Is something ripped, smashed, scratched, chipped, cracked, torn or otherwise broken? Photograph any damage right away, or as soon as possible thereafter.

STEP 4: ANYTHING MISSING?

Check to make sure that you are not missing anything like your phone, wallet, keys, eyeglasses, clipboard, sunglasses, etc. If you discover that something is missing, consider calling the Police or Sheriff right away to assist in retrieving your personal items.

STEP 5: CONTACT THE AUTHORITIES

Always make sure to report any assault incident to the police, no matter how minor. It not only creates a permanent record of what happened during this particular instance from your perspective; but it will also protect others in the future. Also, if questions arise later as to what actually transpired during the service, a detailed police report will be very helpful.

STEP 6: DOCUMENT THE INCIDENT

While you are waiting on the authorities from a safe location, take a few minutes to write down everything that you can remember about the incident. Take detailed notes of what happened from start to finish including any verbal exchanges, what you were assaulted with, and any injuries. Include a timeline as best as you can remember. If you did sustain injuries during the incident, the pictures you took right after the incident or at the hospital may be very important down the road. Continue with pictures daily showing the progress of the injuries. They may look worse for a few days before showing signs of healing.

STEP 7: NOTIFY EMPLOYER/CLIENT

Your employer may have a policy in place if an incident occurs on the job.  Contact your supervisor or client to make them aware of what happened.  It is also important to share your experience with other process servers to prevent similar attacks. Being assaulted is traumatic. Counseling and other support may be provided by some employers to help you deal emotionally with the assault.

STEP 8:  NOTIFY YOUR STATE ASSOCIATION

Contact your association to make them aware of the incident. Some associations have an assault advisor to provide guidance and help you through your assault situation. Process server associations across the country are taking strides to better protect members (and the entire profession) through legislative changes, assault prevention meetings or classes, and by hosting discussions at industry events. Some associations have been successful in having assault on a process server upgraded from a misdemeanor to a felony charge.

STEP 9:  REPORT THE INCIDENT TO PAAPRS

PAAPRS is a National database of Process Serving Assaults. Go to www.Serve-Now.com and register your incident.

Our Last CCPS Workshop Was A Success!

Posted May 29, 2018 in Education

By Andrew Gowing, Continuing Education Chair 

Our last CCPS Workshop was a success! Not only did we launch our very first webinar, but we had 10 people in attendance and added 7 new CCPS to our ranks! Those who attended the webinar gave us great feedback and they all had a positive experience.

“The webinar was a great option. If not for it, I would not have taken the class as traveling really isn’t feasible. I will take it in the future every year as I think it is important to refresh and learn new laws. Thanks for offering it!”– Kelly Hairgrove (Santee, CA)

Our next CCPS Workshop and Webinar is scheduled for Saturday, June 30th in Riverside at Bosco Legal, 4651 Brookhollow Cir., Unit C, Riverside, CA  92509. Please come and join us, whether in person or online. Check out the registration info HERE.

Always remember when serving papers that Safety is the Priority.

• Everybody is Vulnerable – do not act invincible.
• Have Standards of Safety
  • Watch your back, check for dogs, and look both ways.

• Use Common Sense

• Always Take the Right Approach
  • Think through possible outcomes given your location and surroundings
  • Always have an exit strategy in case things go wrong

• Use Self-Defense as a Last Resort 

• Call the Police When Necessary
  • Know the phone number for your local police agency

Our Newest CALSPro Members!

Posted May 24, 2018 in Membership

We would like to send out a very special thank you to our new members who just joined this year. We truly appreciate and value your membership. If you need work done in their respective areas, please reach out to them using the Legal Support Professionals Quote tool.

Thank you new members for joining CALSPro!!

New Active Members

Michael Netherby           
Alpine Copy Service, Truckee, CA

Kerri Tillman
Legal Document Specialist, Inc., Palm Springs, CA

Dave Thomas
Ronsin Litigation Support Services, Walnut, CA

Dan Mora
Gemini Legal, Rocklin, CA

Jorge Rivera
KNR Attorney Service, Los Angeles, CA

Sonia Romero
Hasting Professional Process Servers, Temecula, CA

Vickie Cole
Ronsin Litigation Support Services, Walnut, CA

Jackie Corrales
Class Action Research, Penryn, CA

Angela Amavisca
First Legal, Fresno, CA

Jackie Janney-Kilgore
Janney & Janney Legal Support Service, Santa Ana, CA

Margarita Abeshyan
Janney & Janney Legal Support Service, Los Angeles, CA

Heather Selch
First Legal, Sacramento, CA

Mary Butler
First Legal, Redding, CA

Juan Cruz
First Legal, San Francisco, CA

Connie Bettencourt
iServe Legal Support, Manteca, CA

Angela Jones
Legal Document & Assistants, Sacramento, CA

Christopher Cole
Pike Photocopy, Inc., Culver City, CA

Irene Ramirez
Desert Legal Services, El Centro, CA

Oscar De Pineres
Hunt Group, San Diego, CA

New Associate Members

Bryan Blair
First Legal, Phoenix, AZ

Phil Pavarini
Cleveland Service Agency, Inc., Cleveland, OH

Christy Albin
Lady Of The Lake Process Servers & Mobile, Eugene, OR

Chris Daum
First Legal, Henderson, NV

Jason Brown
Urban Spy, Phoenix, AZ

Larry Herman
First Legal, Tuscon, AZ

Mike Walrod
HPS Process Service & Investigations, Kansas City, MO

Alexandra Snipes
Battle Born Process Service, Reno, NV

Sean Segel
S & W Process Service, Tampa, FL

Matt Gilmore
APK Legal Services, Lincoln, NE

Wendy Kelley
Kelley Servers, Neosho, MO

Andrew Webster
Puget Sound Process, Renton, WA

Destinee Serdinia
Howdy & Aloha Process, Boerne, TX

Joshua Miller
The Chase Agency LLC, Avoca, NY

Kathy Burrow
Central Texas Litigation Support Services, Inc., Waco, TX

Ron Grossberg
Palmetto Legal Gophers, Columbia, SC

New Independent Contractor Members

Kimberly Lutjen – Petty
Kimberly Lutjen Process Service, Campbell, CA

Buzz Kurzon
Attorney Services of Antelope Valley, Palmdale, CA

Greg Cole
Right Away Legal Services, San Diego, CA

Josh Watson
Commercial Process Serving, Inc., San Luis Obispo, CA

Ivan Bernal
Serv’n U Process Serving, San Diego, CA

Ericka Patterson
Palo Cedro, CA

Maghen Ward
Wards Investigations & Legal Services, Santa Rosa, CA

Dannylle Koontz
Priority Processing Serving & Legal Courier, Los Gatos, CA

Michelle Ames
Ames Litigation Services, Stockton, CA

Renee Tyson
Judy’s Roadrunners Attorney Service, Alta Loma, CA

Bruce McCain
JBM Process Services, Valencia, CA

Martin Basaldua
Ventura, CA

California Supreme Court Ruling And How It Impacts Our Industry

Posted May 22, 2018 in Legislation

By Chad Barger

In case you haven’t heard, there is big news in the California Supreme Court regarding their decision on April 30th, 2018, in the case of Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court regarding independent contractors. The court issued a ruling that makes it much more difficult for companies to classify workers as independent contractors. The previous standard used for classifying workers as employees or independent contractors had been in place since the 1980’s and was based upon a multifactor test that considered, among other factors, the worker’s abilities, the method of payment, and the level of control exercised over the worker.

The new standard adopted by the Supreme Court requires businesses to establish three factors to properly classify a worker as an independent contractor, otherwise known as “the ABC test.”This decision greatly expands the definition of “employee” under California law:

1. The worker is free from the control and direction of the hirer in connection with the performance of the work, both under contract for the performance of such work and in fact; and
2. The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and
3. The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as the work performed by the hiring entity.

So, what was the change that affected us?

Section “B” was changed to read:

B. The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business. Meaning, that to be deemed an independent contractor, the “IC” cannot perform the same services the hiring entity does. So, if you’re a process serving company and you use independent contractors to serve your process, you must now classify them as employees.

Per the Court’s ruling, workers in California are presumed to be employees and, therefore, are accorded the myriad of protections they enjoy, and it’s the employer’s burden to satisfy the three “ABC” factors to lawfully classify the worker as an independent contractor instead of an employee. The court’s example stated that a plumber hired by a retail store to repair a bathroom leak is not performing work that is part of the store’s usual business and would, therefore, be considered an independent contractor of that store. However, seamstresses sewing at home using materials provided by a clothing manufacturer would probably be considered employees of the manufacturer. If a worker should properly be classified as an employee, the employer bears the responsibility for paying federal Social Security and payroll taxes, unemployment insurances taxes and state employment taxes, providing workers’ compensation insurance, and complying with federal and California regulations governing the wages, hours, and working conditions of employees.

If you haven’t already done so, I would recommend all businesses consult with legal counsel to determine your path forward. These are new and crazy times in California, but you can always rely on CALSPro to provide you with the issues that matter to you. To borrow a phrase from my local news channel, “We report, you decide.”

SEE RULING

LASC Will Begin Hearing Cases At Spring Street Courthouse On April 16

Posted May 17, 2018 in Court Updates

The Los Angeles Superior Court will begin hearing cases at the Spring Street Courthouse, located at 312 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, 90012, on April 16, 2018. The complex litigation program will relocate from the Central Civil West Courthouse. Personal injury, settlement and some trial and long cause trial courts will relocate from the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.

Although there will be a small clerk’s office at the Spring Street location, all document filings for those courtrooms must be filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse – 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, 90012. The only exceptions are for same day ex-parte applications and documents filed for trials in progress.

Courtesy or bench copies of filed documents must be delivered to the appropriate courtroom at the Spring Street Courthouse and will not be accepted at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse with the original filings.

Future hearings scheduled in the courtrooms relocating will be conducted as scheduled, on the same date and time, at the new courthouse. For example, if a hearing was scheduled in Dept. 309 at 10:00 a.m. on April 17, 2018, the matter will be heard in Dept. 12 at Spring Street on the same date and time.

The Spring Street Courthouse remains a federal government facility and entry into the building requires a valid form of photo identification (such as a driver’s license, California state-issued identification card or passport). Anyone not possessing this type of identification will be escorted into the building by a court employee.

Building hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except court holidays. There is no public parking at the courthouse, however, pay lots are available nearby and throughout the downtown area. The DASH bus services the downtown/civic center area for a minimal fee and the Metro Rail Civic Center/Grand Park station is less than three blocks away.

The information provided in this notice is accurate as of March 28, 2018. Further information, including courtroom telephone numbers, will be published as it becomes available and will be posted on the Court’s website at lacourt.org.

If you have questions, please contact court staff in the appropriate courtroom.

See the Court’s Official Notice here

Meet CALSPro Board Member, Tom Bowman

Posted May 15, 2018 in Membership

Tom Bowman has a long and storied career in process serving. He told us that he served his first paper in April 1965; happily serving papers for 53 years. As with so many process servers, Tom began serving process as a side job. He was working at the Kodak processing lab in Palo Alto and needed extra income. He sorted papers at his kitchen table for a number of years before becoming a full time business owner. Tom has had an office in San Jose for 45 years.

Tom enjoys being out in the field and finds that proper methods for service of process result in a positive experience with parties being served. Tom credits his membership in CALSPro for being the most valuable resource to him as a process server and business owner. Tom joined CAPPS in 1975 and quickly became an active member. He served his first term as a board member in 1976. He has held the office of President, Vice President, Treasurer and two terms as the Legislative Chairman. Tom currently serves as the Assault Chair. Tom is also a founding member of NAPPS.

Tom with his son, Will.

Tom’s father was in the Air Force, so Tom’s early years included many moves from one place to the next. By the time Tom started high school, he had attended 11 different schools. Talking to people and making a new set of friends became of big part of his life as a kid. Tom relies on his ease with conversation out in the field and still loves talking to people. His family teases him for being the guy who starts a conversation in an elevator instead of looking up at the floor indicator in silence “like you’re supposed to” and for always having a story that starts with “I was talking to some guy in line today…”

Tom enjoys spending time with his family and getting to put his feet up on the weekends.  He tries to catch as many Sharks and Warriors games as possible and enjoys NASCAR as well. Tom collects and occasionally gets out to ride one of his vintage Cushman scooters. He is a member of the Northern California Cushman Club & is a past president of that organization. He is also a member of the national club.

Tom and Wendy celebrate their 25^th wedding anniversary this month. Their kids are now college age, so they are adjusting to a lot more peace and quiet these days. To put a stop to that, they adopted Millie, a lab/mixed up mutt, who was in a shelter in Houston when Hurricane Harvey hit. She and 300 other homeless dogs were flown out to California to make room in the Houston shelters for dogs displaced due to the storm. The newest Bowman is enjoying long walks with Wendy and starting to settle in pretty well.

Tom feels very blessed with a wonderful family and many lifelong friends. He is grateful for good health and being able to get out each day to see where the road will take him.

Come Join Us In Sacramento

Posted May 10, 2018 in Conference

By Mark Manchester, Conference Committee Chair

We are more than halfway there, and time is flying. Before you know it, it will be time for our 50-Year Celebration and Conference. This year’s conference will be at the Embassy Suites in Sacramento’s beautiful Riverfront Promenade.

We are just five months away from conference, and this is one you won’t want to miss. We will start our Friday with the Jack C. Janney Memorial Golf Tournament, and a Capital Tour, then at 5pm we are delighted to announce the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, The Honorable Tani Cantil-Sakauye, will attend and speak at our opening reception and cocktail mixer. She is the 28^th Chief Justice of the State of California and the second woman to serve as the State’s Chief Justice. Then later that night, we will be playing poker or bingo.

This year’s main guest speaker will be Stephanie Chandler, she is the author of nine books, including, Own Your Niche: Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics to Establish Authority in Your Field and Promote Your Service-Based Business. There is no need to wonder how to build your online presence to increase exposure, Stephanie will teach us how to identify and attract your ideal audience online and optimize your website.

Saturday we will continue with our Annual Business Meeting, educational speakers, history spotlights, and 4 raffles. After the Saturday night banquet, we will be dancing the night away, so bring your dancing shoes.

This will be the first year our election of officers will be done online prior to conference. The new policy will be out soon, so stay tuned. This new policy will allow more members the opportunity to get involved and share their knowledge.

We are still busy planning and putting the schedule together, it should all be ironed out soon. This won’t be like any Annual Conference you have ever attended, so please help us get the word out.

I look forward to seeing you all in Sacramento!

Planning For Retirement As A Process Server

Posted May 8, 2018 in Membership

Planning for retirement is always smart in any industry you work in. As a Process Server/Independent Contractor you may not be able to invest in an employer-sponsored 401k plan, or participate in a pension plan, however, this does not mean you shouldn’t plan ahead. Using a bit of ingenuity and research, you can still find ways to self-fund your retirement. Follow the steps below to start planning your retirement today.

Review Your Current Financial Situation

Before you can create a retirement plan, it is important to take a moment to carefully assess your current financial situation, as well as what you envision for your future. You can easily get a quick look at what you need to do by using a retirement calculator online. A retirement calculator will take into account your current age and income, your retirement savings goal, and any other financial investments that you have. It can let you know how long you’ll need to work with your current income and investment plan.

Additionally, if you haven’t been saving any funds for emergency purposes or for your future retirement, you’ll want to work on getting caught up. While it may not be feasible to do this quickly, understanding your current situation and making an effort to plan for the future is the first step in getting ready for retirement.

Assess Your Needs

When you plan for retirement, it is important to have a realistic goal of when you will stop working — although you might feel like you can work forever, that might not be the case. Planning for your future can go a long way in making your life easier when the time comes to stop working.

You’ll also want to compare what your life is like now versus how you see yourself living once you retire. Do you plan to downsize your home? Do you want to move out of state? How is your health? When it comes to assessing your future needs, questions like these are just the beginning of determining what route you’ll want to take when planning for your retirement from civil process service.

Evaluate Your Options

For process servers who operate as a business owner, on a freelance basis, or as an independent contractor, you might be surprised to learn that you can take advantage of many of the same retirement options that traditional employees are offered. Some of those options include different types of IRA (individual retirement account) plans that you can use to begin saving for your future. Beyond IRAs, there are a number of other ways you can prepare for your future, such as creating a separate savings account for your retirement. However, making a true investment in your future may be a better way to go. No matter what you choose, be sure to carefully evaluate all your options before diving in.

Traditional IRA

A traditional IRA is an investment plan where you are able to make contributions to a retirement account before income taxes are deducted, and you are able to make either a full or partial tax deduction during the year that you make the contribution, is a way to not only beef up your retirement account but also get a tax benefit as well. You typically aren’t hit with taxes until you distribute the account. Also, the yearly contributions are capped, so this plan is likely better for those who have a lot of working years left.

Roth IRA

Traditional IRAs differ from Roth IRAs because you make an after-tax contribution (not a pre-tax one)  to a retirement savings account. The other difference is that you cannot make tax deductions from your contributions. Keep in mind that like traditional IRAs, the contribution amounts for both Roth and Traditional IRAs are capped.

SEP IRAs

SEP IRAs are essentially a simplified pension plan that allows for much higher contributions than Roth or Traditional IRAs — and the contributions are made in pretax dollars. The biggest downside to this plan is really only if you have employees. Whatever you do for yourself, you’ll have to do for them.

Contribution Plans

You can also create your own contribution plan, which is structured similarly to a traditional IRA. For example, 401(k) and 403(b) are contribution plans, meaning that you contribute your own funds to these accounts. Oftentimes, employees contribute or match a certain amount that their employer contributes to these funds, which is what makes these ideal when working for a large company.

Overall, there are a variety of investment plans (more than what we can list here!), so before making a final decision, consider getting additional help to sort through all the possibilities and what retirement plan will benefit you the most.

Get Extra Help

To find out what investment option is right for you, it is worthwhile to visit a financial planner to get a complete understanding of your current finances and what options you have available for your future and retirement. Be sure that your financial planner is a fiduciary to ensure that they will work in your best interest. Keep in mind that what we have provided is for informational purposes only, and each individual’s options may vary.

If your accountant does not provide a financial planning service, he or she may be able to recommend you to someone who can help you better plan for your future. Just as we recommend to customers that licensed civil process servers should be used to serve papers, finance professionals are there to help you navigate the complexities of investing in your future. Happy planning!

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

CALSPro Bill AB 2286 Is Working Its Way Through The Legislature

Posted May 3, 2018 in Legislation

By Chad Barger, Chairman, Legislative Committee

As reported in my last blog, our CALSPro bill, AB 2286, sponsored by state Assemblyman, Phillip Chen, R-55^th District, which amends the service hours for a CCP1011(b) is working its way through the legislature.  The proposed amendment is to expand the hours for service on a pro se party by leaving a copy with anyone, other than the party, at his or her residence between the hours of 7 AM to 9 PM.

The proposed amendment simply widens the window to effect serving notice to the pro se party by leaving the documents with someone else if he or she is not present. However, we have received push-back from the Assembly Judiciary on the expansion of the morning hours. We are working diligently to keep the bill alive. We will keep you updated on the bill’s progress.

In March, the committee met at CALSPro headquarters in Sacramento to discuss the topic of obstruction of justice. Several great ideas were presented, and we have begun to formulate the framework to add greater protection for California process servers, along with greater access to guarded/gated “Multiple commercial business complexes” and “Multiple residential buildings.” If you have ideas on this subject, please contact me.

Lastly, at our board of directors meeting in March, the committee was provided with the list of potential bills that could affect our profession.  As we pour over the proposed legislation, we encourage you to do the same. The link to active legislation can be found here:  https://www.calspro.org/members/. If you are logged into the CALSPro website, you will be able to bypass the login for our Client Access page; otherwise, you will need those login credentials.

Stay tuned for more legislative update in the months to come.

Mark Your Calendar – A CCPS Workshop Is Coming To Bakersfield In May

Posted May 1, 2018 in Education

CALSPro is dedicated to the education of Process Servers statewide. Educate yourselves and your process servers by attending one of our workshops this year. Our workshops feature a comprehensive study of the primary California process serving codes. We had a successful workshop recently in Los Angeles that sold out. Space is often limited, so please reserve your spot early!

Our next CCPS workshop and exam is scheduled for Saturday, May 19^th. Light snacks will be provided. In addition to the standard workshop, this seminar will include a portion dedicated to the beginning or inexperienced process server.

Upcoming Dates:

May 19, 2018                             Bakersfield – REGISTER HERE

June 30, 2018                             Riverside

August 25, 2018                         Santa Ana

October 7, 2018                         Sacramento (Conference)

Unable to attend in person? Join us online! CALSPro is now offering our informative and resourceful workshop online. The very first CCPS Online Webinar will be offered in conjunction with our workshop in Bakersfield, on Saturday, May 19^th.  REGISTER HERE. Space for the Webinar will be limited.