article_snippet.sent: What exactly is "service of process"?
article_snippet.sent: Serving people with legal papers is an industry and legal papers own body of law premised on one guiding principle:
article_snippet.sent: Once a defendant has been served, that means the judicial proceedings begin.  
article_snippet.sent: Although every state is different, the law of service of process has evolved this way: the ideal and fairest way to notify a person of a lawsuit is to have another human hand the papers to a defendant in person, and have some proof that the person was the defendant.
article_snippet.sent: So, the law of service of process had to develop methods of alternate service, but carefully balance a defendant's right to have notice of a lawsuit, against a diligent plaintiff's access to court if a defendant is avoiding the inevitable.
article_snippet.sent: This means that you take a hammer and nail, and nail the papers to the defendant's front door.  
article_snippet.sent: Another, even odder form of "service" is service by publication.  
article_snippet.sent: If you can't find a defendant, a judge might let you serve by publication.  
article_snippet.sent: That means that a plaintiff can take out an ad in five point font for a week in an obscure publication, on the off chance you are reading the classified ads of the Secaucus Law Journal looking for lawsuits against you.  
article_snippet.sent: That's the form of service authorized by the court here.  