Marjorie Perry\’s Legal Blog

When someone sues you or brings a case in which you are a primary party, you are entitled to be served with citation and, also, to file an answer or response (within a specified time).  Every case in a court starts with a lawsuit of some sort being filed.  People frequently fail to recognize that non-adversarial court proceedings (like probating a Will and filing for guardianship) are, in reality, a form of a lawsuit.  If there is no one to be served, the matter is probably “posted” in the county courthouse.  Posting is a form of service, as is service by publication (i.e., in a newspaper). 

In Texas, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (and the appropriate Code governing the matter) specify whether you are entitled to personal service (by a peace officer or private process server) or service by certified or registered mail — or if posting or service by publication will suffice. 

If you are sued in a civil matter (including credit card/debt collection, defamation, divorce, or any “tort” or “contract” issues, etc. ), you are entitled to personal service.  That means a sheriff (or, depending on the locality, constable) or a private process server will probably come knocking on your door.  They will hand you a Citation (which says, “You have been sued.”) that has a copy of the lawsuit attached to it.  You do not have to sign for the delivery, but the process server has to sign that he or she has delivered it to you and state the time and date the delivery was made.  The process server’s “Return” is then filed in the court papers.

Civil process servers are allowed to do their job at any hour of the day or night — except on Sunday.  Sunday is a “free day.”  Civil process cannot be served on Sunday.  It can be served at 11:59 p.m. on a Saturday or 12:01 a.m. on a Monday — but it cannot be served on a Sunday. 

Many people try to avoid service.  As an attorney, I always advise my clients that the process server is just doing his or her job . . . and that he or she (my client) should just take the papers he or she is handed and call me to make arrangements to get the papers to me as soon as possible.  (Once you have been served with papers, you have a very short period of time to get an answer on file.   So, once you have been “served with process” get the papers to your attorney immediately.) 

The Citation (and lawsuit) give you and your attorney a lot of valuable information:  the case number, the court hearing the case, when the case was filed, who the other parties are (and the attorney representing the person or entity suing you), when you need to have your response on file, and why you are being sued.  No matter how straightforward the Citation may be to attorneys, it is often confusing to the recipients — so contacting a lawyer is a great “next move” after being served. 

 I hope you don’t get sued and, frankly, that you never have a need to sue anyone else.  In today’s world, however, there is a good chance that you will be a party to a lawsuit.  If you are, you really need to be represented by any attorney who practices law in the area at issue.  The attorneys at Smith & Garg cover virtually every area of civil law, as well as some criminal law.  If you get sue or feel that filing suit is something you must do, give us a call.  We work on an hourly fee and we are here to help address your legal needs.