Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
I apologize, but I did not ask the question correctly before:
1) The defendant's attorney did a "special appearance" in court for a default judgment. Does the attorney becomes the attorney in record? 2) The defendant's attorney's secretary accepted a complaint (noon) and a summons (1pm). Does this satisfy service? 3) The defendant has been avoiding service for 1 yr already. A due diligence claim was submitted to the court already. But no substitute service since I believed that he is the attorney in record. Thanks
2 Answers from Attorneys
No, the attorney's special appearance does not make him the attorney of record. The fact that the attorney specially appeared indicates that he is not defendant's attorney and therefore would not accept service on defendant's behalf. What you want to do is send the attorney an email or letter asking if he is authorized to accept service on defendant's behalf and follow up with a phone call if the attorney doesn't respond--you want to memorialize every effort you made to properly serve defendant--a judge is more likely to grant a request for service by publication if supported by a record of the substantial efforts you've made to personally serve defendant. Give me a call at (213) 381-6557 if you would like to discuss the matter further.
Mr. Leicher is exactly correct. "special appearance" specifically means NOT becoming attorney of record. Nothing you describe is proper service.
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