This week, a process server I know very well, and who is a very likeable, professional and tenacious server, was significantly assaulted whilst serving paperwork. He was outnumbered, and set upon by a 'gang' of men, taken to the ground, and assaulted. The police arrived promptly, and due to the volatility of the situation, a police officer was also punched, resulting in the use of pepper spray on the attackers.

I am pleased to learn that no serious harm came to the process server, and that in his words 'his good looks remain intact'. It does however highlight the danger we can expose ourselves to in our daily dealings.

We all take our jobs very seriously, and never assume a situation will run smoothly, but we would urge our clients to make sure we are made aware of potentially volatile situations in advance, because we can then make the necessary arrangements to ensure our process servers are kept safe.

A few weeks ago I had my annual Electricity Contract Renewal from my current provider. As usual, I had a shop around, and got what is in comparison to theirs, a fantastic deal! So I've switched, and notified the current provider accordingly.

Now today, a week after I have advised them of my termination, they have called me to say that they can offer me some great rates if I stay with them, better rates than the ones they quoted in my renewal documents.

My response ............. 'If you had those great rates available to me, why did you not offer them to me on my renewal? Why did you wait to see if I would just accept your 'not great rates', before you showed me what a 'great customer' I am, and offered me a better deal?'

Needless to say, I will not be renewing my contract with them! But it just goes to show, even if you do not want to switch your current provider, it's worth suggesting that you might, because the chances are they will offer you something better!

It was reported this week that a process server working in New York 'broke the law' by failing to keep adequate records of the documents he had served in thousands of cases (indeed it would appear all of the cases he had ever worked on). It has given defense attorneys in Foreclosure matters a new angle to explore as they seek to buy time for their financially beleaguered clients to modify or refinance their mortgages.

The full story can be read at http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2012/01_-_January/NY_judge__Sloppy_service_has_legal_consequences/

It brought to mind an incident a couple of months ago, where a client of mine requested whether our agent had noted a specific vehicles registration number when serving some documents three months prior. I checked our Information Report, which did not show the information, and therefore telephoned the local process server to ask if he could check his notes just to make sure he hadn't written it down and just not provided it to us. The response I got was 'from three months ago? i don't keep records that far back'. The process server in question had worringly not got any notes about the serve, nor a copy of the documents, nor even a copy of his proof of service. If this matter ever needed his subsequent attention, he would have absolutely no physical record of what happened, other than what he can remember - and bear in mind some process servers serve multiple people every day!

This prompted me to make some further enquiries with people I assume to be well regarded within the industry, and found that a vast number of process serving firms do not keep any record of what I would consider to be 'basic information'. There is no record of attendances made, they are unable to produce either a copy of the documents served, or the proof that they did it, no physical description of the respondent, no record of any telephone numbers they may have obtained along the way............. so in a nutshell, if for some reason the client misplaced the information sent to them at the time of service, it is now lost forever! I am unsure that if the process server was ever called to Witness, 'I can't remember' would be a suitable answer to questioning.

So, for your peace of mind, I would like to confirm that ASH (UK) Process Servers Ltd hold scanned copies of the following records for every process serve we have conducted since the day we were established.....

1. A copy of the clients instructing letter

2. A copy of the documents we served

3. A copy of the Certificate, Statement, Sworn Affidavit, or other proof of service

4. A copy of the Information Report sent to the client (containing any useful telephone numbers, vehicle and respondent descriptions etc).

If you have ever misplaced anything we have provided to you, be rest assured that we will have a scanned copy of it which we can email you in an instant!

You think of ASBO's, and if you are like me, what springs to mind is groups of youths causing havoc, criminal damage, and intimidating the elderly.

Well it would seem ASBO's are much more versatile than you may think.

This week, Margaret Reynolds, 69, and Danuta Rogowa, 75 have been given ASBO's preventing them from feeding the pigeons in Trowbridge! They are also banned from buying more than 3kg of bird food in one go, or buying more than 3 loaves of bread in one day.

It may seem ludicrous to do this, but apparently the pigeon problem is so severe in Trowbridge that it has been classed as a public health risk, and despite various Orders being made to stop these pensioners from feeding the birds, nothing has worked so far.

Fortunately for me, my own grandmother is far too busy knitting, so unless someone decides her clicking needles are causing too much disruption, I think she is safe!

You can read the full story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-16488207.