Process Servers
Overview
Introduction
Process servers are licensed by the courts to serve legal papers, such as summonses, subpoenas, and court orders, to the parties involved in legal disputes. People served may include witnesses, defendants in lawsuits, or the employers of workers whose wages are being garnished by court order. Corporations can be served through their statutory agents (representatives), and unknown parties can be served as John or Jane Doe, with their true names being substituted when learned by the court. Process servers work independently or as empl...
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Earnings for process servers vary according to the number and type of papers served. In June 2020, process servers earned average annual salaries of $35,526, according to PayScale.com. The lowest paid 10 percent of process servers earned about $24,745, while the highest paid 10 percent earned $71,676 or more. Standard fees may range from approximately $20 to $80 per case, according to the O...
Work Environment
Being a process server requires a certain amount of hustle. The job requires that the person be part investigator, part process server, and part legal messenger. The successful process server will enjoy the more tedious aspects of sleuthing, such as tracking down routine information about someone's life.
Considering the process server's position as the bearer of bad news, it is not surpr...
Outlook
Employment opportunities for process servers will grow as the number of legal matters increases. The rising number of civil lawsuits bodes well for process servers, since a single case can produce anywhere from one service to dozens, when taking into account subpoenas, supporting orders, writs of garnishment, and the like.
Some sheriff's departments (long mandated by law to serve civil p...