Frequently
Asked Questions

Witness fee check is payable to the person being served.

The fee is a flat rate of $7.50 for State Court and $45.00 for Federal Court.

In Florida — Federal Court is $40 flat rate plus .35 cents per mile and Florida State Court is a $5 flat rate plus .06 cents per mile. Non-Florida State Court cases fees vary by state. Consult with the court in that state to determine the fee. In Florida, a typical witness fee check in State Court will be $7.50. A typical witness fee check for a Federal case will be $45.00.

In Florida, if you are not requesting the witness to testify you do not need to put a witness fee check. If you are requesting the witness to produce documents — the person or company producing the documentation may require you to pay for the copies in advance. Contact the company directly and request this information prior to serving the Subpoena.

It varies by State and type of case. Call the court where your case will take place and they will be able to identify the exact amount. Also, we always recommend checking the Court’s website which is full of information.

Checks are payable to “Clerk of Courts”

Yes, as a process serving company we have the ability to file the executed affidavits with the Florida e-portal system. If the matter is a Federal case – then the attorney of record will file the affidavit through the Pacer system directly.

Your legal documents can be emailed to Serve@JudicialSupport.com and you will receive a confirmation email once it has been received and processed.
Please note: Any documents over 30 pages will be invoiced at .10 cents per page

When a case is filed in the United States you can serve that defendant anywhere in the United States. For example, we can serve an individual at his place of employment. We can also serve this defendant at a restaurant or at a business meeting. In addition, we can serve this defendant at a trade show or at Court. As long as the service of process is conducted — Monday through Saturday we can serve anywhere.

In Florida, every State Court will charge $10.00 to issue your summons. Most Courts will issue the Summons online, however, some courts like Miami-Dade are still issuing in person.

Judicial Process & Support is uniquely positioned to service law firms so the bulk of our clients have custom pricing based on volume. If you are a law firm seeking new litigation support services you can request a price quote by emailing us at serve@judicialsupport.com

If you are an individual or seeking less than 10 services a month then process serving rates start in the range from $80.00 for rush service. An attempt is made within 1-2 business days for Miami Dade County services. Anywhere else in Florida the fee is $80.00 and service is attempted within 3-5 business days.

We recommend standard service for those cases that you have ample time to serve. For example, if the Court date is at least 30 days, the process server will be able to make ample attempts.

If your pleading is short dated — then we would recommend the rush service. Rush service is typically attempted with 1-2 business days. This service is also recommended for those instances where the defendant will be at a certain place at a certain time and you want the process server to be there. These services have a better and quicker outcome.

Same Day Service is used when you have an Order to Show Cause or a Writ of Garnishment and its in the best interest of the party to get these pleadings served immediately. Same Day service can also apply to that special service where you have a particular date and time to serve the defendant.

In Florida, if the defendant listed in the documents cannot be found, the court may allow service by publication in a newspaper. This method is perfect for Family Law cases and Foreclosure matters. In order to publish, the Court will require an affidavit of due diligence. In addition, the affidavit will need to be precise as to how many attempts were made and the outcome of those attempts. Finally, the attorney will have to demonstrate that there is no other address for the defendant that can be attempted.

In Florida, the defendant nor the witness has to receive the documents in hand. If the process server has properly identified themselves and advised about the contents of the documents — the legal documents can be left on the floor, on the table or outside their home. This information must be reflected on the Affidavit and filed with the Court. Also, it should be fully disclosed on the paperwork (field sheet) that the process server will keep in the office. This documentation is great in the event the process server has to testify in Court.

An Affidavit of Service is also known as a Proof of Service. This document is a signed document provided to you upon completion of serving your documents. In Florida we do not require the Affidavit to be notarized; however, many other states have this requirement that we can comply with. Often times, if the defendant cannot be served the Affidavit provided, will be a Due Diligence Affidavit that will be filed with the Court. This Affidavit will be useful in the event you want to serve the Secretary of State under 48.161 or 48.181 where the whereabouts of the defendant(s) are unknown.

A Process Server serves legal documents to the defendant, individual, or Corporations listed on the legal documents being served. Once the documents are served, an Affidavit of Service is prepared and filed with the Court. In Florida, the process serving company also files this Affidavit with the Florida e-portal system.

In Florida, all Process Servers serving non-enforceable process must be licensed. In order to serve a Summons and Complaint you must have a valid process serving identification. This identification must be presented when serving process and also the Process Server identification number must be listed on the Affidavit of Service.
Not all states require a process server to be licensed. However, some states require that process servers be registered in their county or state, or appointed to serve in a specific county.

If an attorney has filed a lawsuit in Florida and now wants to serve a defendant in New York then the process is to contact a process server in that jurisdiction to conduct the service. Local process serving companies can assist with this process since they have worked with local process servers around the country and have vetted these process servers to be adequate.

When service of process was first established it was performed by sheriffs or deputies, and agents of the court. This became very challenging and a burden to those authorized to serve process. They realized that they alone could not handle all the services that needed to be served and this is how Private Process Serving came about.
In Florida, a Certified Process Server is either Certified by the Chief Judge or appointed by the Sheriff in that county. In Florida, the Process Servers are tested each year or have to attend a few hours of education in order to renew their licenses. In Miami-Dade County we are required to also have a yearly bond that we provide the Court. The Miami-Dade County Courthouse has a designated Director for the Process Serving Division and they are responsible for every aspect relating to licensed Process Servers in Miami-Dade County.

Other states across the country have similar programs established. Each state is separate and has their own rules on Service of Process and the appointment of Process Servers in their States.

Hiring a Legal Process Server is the first step to moving your case in the right direction. Without service of process, the case is not able to advance to the next stage. Normally, the attorney filing the case on your behalf will hire the process serving company. Process servers have the skills and experience to serve your legal documents in a timely manner and in Florida, we are either Certified by the Chief Judge or appointed by the Sheriff of that county. Process Servers are savvy with the rules and regulations governing process serving – in Florida its Chapter 48.

There are several key requirements associated with the rules of service of process. For example, when serving an individual at his place of employment we will need to serve him or her personally. Also, there are rules regulating the hours for service on a Registered Agent in Florida. In addition, in Florida, we are not allowed to serve anyone on Sunday unless the Court has entered an Order allowing this service.
If a service is not done in accordance with the proper rules– this can hinder your case from going forward or result in the dismissal of your case. Improper service may also cause undue delays which may affect court fees and attorney’s fees.

Service of Process is a term used in the United States to indicate a legal procedure requiring that each party in a case be notified if actions are taken against them in a court of law. This is considered due process and its extremely important in our legal system.

When an individual is sued he/she is referred to as a “Defendant”. Defendants are notified of actions against them or court procedures involving them through the delivery of legal documents such as summons, complaints, subpoenas, orders, motions and writs.

In Florida when a defendant is served with legal documents in State Court he/she has 20 days to respond to the Complaint. In Federal Court filings the defendant has 21 days. If no response is filed on behalf of the defendant a judgment against the defendant may be entered.

Yes, you may contact JPS anytime at Global@JudicialSupport.com or (305) 347-3353. Status inquiries will be responded to within 48 hours.
It is always best to email us directly since we will have to review your file in order to provide the most current update.

The Central Authority is that office designated by the Government to process your international request for service.

When serving a business or individual in a foreign country — you must first see what treaty applies to that country — Hague Convention Treaty or Inter-American Convention. If the country is not part of any treaty then you will need to go through the U.S. State Department. This process is what we refer to as “formal method”.
An informal method will be to use a local process server in that country or to fed/ex or mail the legal documents abroad. We do not recommend “informal” service of process unless your Judge specifically has approved it in advance. Also, “informal” service should never be used in the event you will want to collect on the monetary judgment entered in your favor.
Additional questions on this subject should be referred to an attorney.

When serving legal documents abroad — generally the attorney or pro se litigant will file a package of documents with the Court. This exact same set of documents is served abroad.

Even if the defendant speaks English you still need to translate the documents in order for the Central Authority to review the documentation in their own language. If the documents are not translated then the Central Authority will return the entire package and you begin the process again once the documents have been translated. This will delay the entire process.

When serving documents in another country you must translate those pleadings into the official language of that country. Even if the defendant speaks English you still need to translate the documents in order for the Central Authority to review the documentation in their own language.

Our Letters of Rogatory process starts at $750

Our Inter-American Convention process starts at $750.00

Our Hague convention process starts at $625.00

If using The Hague Convention treaty the service of process can take from 1-6 months depending on the country. For example, service of process to England and Canada can take less than 2 months once the documents have reached the Central Authority; service to China can take 4-6 months if not longer.

If using The Inter-American Convention treaty the service of process can take 4-6 months. This process involves the foreign Court and therefore, multiple steps must be taken in order to approve and serve your legal documents.

If using Letters of Rogatory — this route involves the U.S. State Department and the service can take from 6-12 months. There are multiple levels of process and examination by the following departments. For example, DOS -> U.S. Embassy-> Ministry of Foreign Affairs-> Ministry of Justice-> Foreign Court

The Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory and Additional Protocol (IACAP) is an additional international agreement designed to facilitate judicial assistance between countries listed below. This particular agreement is limited to serving legal documents filed in the United States in either State or Federal Court. One of the differences between the Inter-American Convention and the Hague Convention is that the application for the Inter-American Convention needs to be executed by the Judge in the USA and also the Central Authority to the United States. In addition, this application and package is sent directly to the foreign Court. The Judge in the foreign Court will need to review and approve the service before the actual service of process is done. This process can generally take from 4-6 months if not longer depending on the country involved.

Countries part of the treaty as of 2019: ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, CHILE, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, GUATEMALA, MEXICO, PANAMA, PARAGUAY, PERU, UNITED STATES, URUGUAY and VENEZUELA; It’s important to note, that you always need to check updated list since countries can be added.

The Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters is a multilateral treaty designed to simplify the methods for serving process abroad to assure that defendants sued in foreign jurisdictions receive actual and timely notice of suit and to facilitate proof of service abroad.

This convention is used to serve legal documents filed in the United States to be served in foreign countries that have signed as a signatory.
For example, if you need to serve a Summons and Complaint to a company in China, Germany, Italy, France, Albania, Egypt, and England you would use this method. There are many other countries part of this convention and every year new countries are added.

This method is much simpler and faster than the Letters of Rogatory method. Also, another differentiating factor is that under the Hague Convention the attorney can sign the application versus the Letters of Rogatory that is signed by the Judge presiding over the matter.

Letters of Rogatory are formal requests from a court in one country to “the appropriate judicial authorities” in another country that can request service of judicial documents.

Letter of Rogatory is also known as “Letter of Request”. For example, we use Letters of Rogatory when trying to serve defendants in countries that are neither parties to the Hague or Inter-American Conventions. In the case that you were trying to serve a defendant in either a State or Federal matter in the United States that was going to Cuba or New Zealand, you would use this process.

Letters of Rogatory are received and executed by foreign authorities on the basis of comity and reciprocity. This process will generally take from 9 to 12 months to process and the cost involved is much more expensive. As of 2019, the fee to the U.S. Embassy is $2,275– this fee goes directly to the U.S. Embassy in that country.

Turnaround times vary based on project size and complexity. We like to use the rule of thumb of 2500-3000 words can be translated per day per translator. Depending on the size of the project depending on the number of linguists working on it. You also have to incorporate editing, proofreading, desktop planning and certification time as well to ensure your document has the highest level of quality.
Ex: Birth/Death Certification English to Spanish – 1-2 Days
Ex: 100 Page International Contract – 10-20 Days

At Judicial all of our translators, editors, proofreaders, and supporting staff have prior legal experience. Here ay Judicial our mottos is By Legal Pros, For Legal Pros. You can rest assured that all of our translators and editors have extensive experience translating legal text. Not only does your documentation go through a three-step process -> translator ->editor – > proofreader — it will also get certified at the end with a proper notarization and an Apostille if required.

In the translation industry, it is common to have a per word or per page rate, However, all our quotes start from $75. We have a minimum charge since the translation process will need at least three individuals (translator, editor and proofreader) to finalize the final product.

The process is quite simple. You submit online by clicking here and submitting your documents with instructions on what language you require to be translated. We will provide the best quote possible!

An experienced translator will make sure that the content of your source document does not change when translating the document. The experienced translator has extensive knowledge in that specific field and in most cases has multiple certifications with years of experience. A human translator in most cases is needed to make sure that any machine translation is adequate.

When documents are being translated for international service or for Court — it is always best to have a non-interested party do the translation. The client might be able to handle the job well, however, as an interested party, the translation may not be precise. Knowing how to speak and write does not necessarily make you a good translator. In addition, in order to use your translation abroad or in Court you will need a Certificate of Translation. This Certificate is signed by either the official translator or the company doing the translation.

We accept payment via wire, Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Money Order, and Corporate Check. Please note there will be a convenience fee of 3% if you choose electronic payment. We do not accept American Express.

The translation industry is a large industry with hundreds of different markets to serve. Certified Legal Translations rate starts at .18 cents per word and up.

Judicial Support currently translates over 100+ languages. Our 10 most common languages are English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, German, French, Korean, Japanese, Arabic and Italian. You can see the entire list by clicking here.