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New York Business Attorney

There are three things that somebody needs to look at when they are sued and that any New York business attorney needs to look at as well if a client is sued. The first issue is service of process, the second issue is what to do when the service of process is received, and the third is what is next after that action.

Starting with the first, service of process, let’s verify what service of process actually is. Service of process is the act of notifying a defendant or a group of defendants about a lawsuit that has been initiated by the plaintiff by filing a complaint. Backing up even more, what is a plaintiff? A plaintiff is a person or company that commences a lawsuit. And what commence means is begins or starts the lawsuit. And when there is a lawsuit that is filed with the court, this is typically what it means to convince a lawsuit. And again the lawsuit is commenced by the plaintiff, by filing what is called a complaint, a summons and complaint.

Any qualified New York business attorney knows that there are several ways that a defendant can be delivered service of process. Again the plaintiff is the party that files the lawsuit, and the defendant is the party that is sued. The several ways that a defendant can be served with process are: in person, by mail, by substitute service, or by any other method approved by the court. Substitute service means that the defendant is served through a person of suitable age and discretion. This typically means somebody at least 18 years old and is fully functional as an adult and can be said to be responsible for delivering the service process to the actual named defendant. There may be exceptions to this.

When considering what to do with service of process once the defendant receives it, a qualified New York business attorney will be able to tell you the date that the response is due, as well as the next actions. In terms of the date that the response is due, that heavily depends on when the document or documents were actually served on the defendant or, if there’s more than one, the defendants. Very typically and generally speaking, if a defendant is served within the state of New York in person, the defendant has 20 days to respond; if the defendant is served any other way, it’s typically 30 days.

What does “any other way” mean? This is any way other than a personal service and includes mail, service upon the Secretary of State (where permitted), when we are talking about a legal entity; it can also be by mail, and other means approved by the Court.

One of the important things to distinguish and understand, is that in the context of service, it is important to determine and figure out when the date of service was. This is because this is where deadlines are measured from. And one quick note on substitute service, it’s typically completed 10 days after the affirmation or affidavit of service is filed with the Court. This is different from the date or can be different from the day that it is actually served on the defendant or the person of suitable age and discretion.

The second issue as mentioned above is, now that we’ve been served, what are we going to do with it? Your qualified New York business attorney will be able to tell you that the best course of action circumstances is what it is based on asexual and analysis of the documents. What does this mean? Space it means that as a matter of first impression plan for the lawsuit machine document is not properly served, then there is a judicial argument, and this means that the court never had jurisdiction and doesn’t have jurisdiction as therefore, the basis is because the as a complaint or other initiating documents were not properly, sir. And when documents are not served, there is no jurisdiction.

Also, continuing on the second issue raised concerning this analysis, the motion – here is the concept of filing a pre-answer motion to dismiss. Incidentally, an attorney who is qualified to assist you should first look at the service of process, the method of service of process, the timing of service process, and the place of service process; all of these answers inform the decision about whether a pre-answer motion to dismiss should be filed. As aforesaid, service of process or, more specifically, improper service of process can be a very valid basis to file a motion to dismiss, a pre-answer motion to dismiss. These types of motions are very prevalent and popular and can be filed on other grounds in addition to improper service of process.

And the third topic of this page is what to do next. Any New York business attorney worth talking to would or should tell you that after you file the motion to dismiss, you can usually expect a plaintiff to oppose it. After the plaintiff opposes it, the Court schedules an in person oral argument, or at least an online oral argument, or does not schedule an oral argument, and instead, decides the motion on the papers without oral argument or an appearance by any party.

Once the other side files opposition, the moving party, here, the defendant, will be able to file a reply. On the other hand, if there is no motion to dismiss that’s filed, instead the party can file an answer, and the defendant may be expected to receive a motion for summary judgment to be filed against it by the plaintiff. What is a motion for summary judgment? It basically tells the Court that there are no remaining genuine issues of material fact in dispute, and that the case can be decided as a matter of law. One of the key things that defendants in a lawsuit need to understand is that the court process does typically take an incredibly long time, and it can be and often is, quite a frustrating and expensive and distracting process. So the bonus word and concept here in this page is: be patient.

Any New York business attorney that is qualified to give advice on the topic of business litigation will tell you that patience is one of the key virtues in the context of litigation. This is because a lot of people don’t know this, but the New York State legal system, while doing the best I can do, is a bit chaotic and unpredictable. But, this is also part of its charm. As long as a defendant keeps the litigation in perspective, remains patient, and doesn’t get overwhelmed by it, the stage can very well be set for the defendant to maintain the mental composure required to be the defendant in litigation in New York