Service of Process Is a Martial Art.

Setup

CCP §415.10 governs personal service. §415.20 governs substituted service — leave with a competent adult, then mail. §1010.6 governs electronic service, which requires consent, except where the court orders otherwise.

Core — three fields people botch on POS-010

Hold up a stamped POS-010 to camera. Walk through the three boxes most pro pers get wrong, in order:

1. 01
   The "person served" boxIf you wrote the entity name instead of the natural person who actually took the papers, your substituted service just collapsed.
2. 02
   The addressResidence vs. "usual place of business" are different legal theories under §415.20(a) and (b). Pick the wrong one and your proof is hearsay.
3. 03
   The date and time(s)Substituted service requires reasonable diligence first — meaning multiple attempts, logged. One drive-by isn't diligence.

Payoff

If you can't prove service, the case never started.

CTA

What's your case type? Comment "UD," "civil," or "family."