Avoiding a Subpoena

I am currently resident in the State of Arkansas and had an at fault auto accident in the State of Washington in June 2005 while residing in Florida. I am being sued for damages and litigant's attorney is claiming to my lawyer hired by the my insurance company that he cannot find me in spite of serving my ex wife in Florida. My lawyer refuses to give any information about my whereabouts.


My attorney says it's only a matter of time until the law catches up with me and I'm served. How will the plaintiff's attorney find me? And once this happens, is it legal for me to lie and deny being the person seached for? Or does this make me liable for another legal charge?

Puzzled Hillbilly

You were the driver? You're a named defendant in the lawsuit?

Affirmative.

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Quoting Phrantzes

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Affirmative.

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Why are you evading service? Why not just deal with this??

For several reasons:

a) I am pretty certain this case is fraudulent

b) I have an ingrained personality quirk that enjoys the chase

c) In addition I have a slight anti-social bent in my make up

OK? Now please give me you legal expertise and answer the question.

You're likely going to end up having the court authorize substituted service and, if you don't appear and defend, be defaulted. You can ask the insurance company what will happen if you are defaulted; my guess is that your policy won't cover you if you force that outcome.

Thank you, Sir.

Well gee whiz, none of you hotshot legal eagles has come up with the ploy of simply not answering the server when he asks me if I'm Joe Avoider? I'm assured by counsel this is a legitmate method of "dealing with" this problem. Maybe I'm telling you something none of you realized...

Aaron answered you when he said:

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You're likely going to end up having the court authorize substituted service

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Which means that after they prove diligent search, you don't HAVE to be served personally. They'll post something in a newspaper for a set amount of time, the court will call you served, you'll never show up because you are too busy avoiding them, they'll get a judgment and then you'll find yourself in another world of trouble.

So, if your counsel has told you that by you avoiding service, you can avoid a lawsuit, I would suggest you look into finding other counsel.

Question: How will the plaintiff's attorney find me? And once this happens, is it legal for me to lie and deny being the person seached for? Or does this make me liable for another legal charge?

The plaintiff can have a private investigator find you with no trouble.
The sheriff will have someone serve you and there will be no question about who you really are.

If the plaintiff doesn't have the sheriff serve you, they might use a private company. You will have no idea who the person is when they ask you a question which you will answer with your real name.

Do you understand what it means to have a judgement against you?

As you stated-

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I have an ingrained personality quirk that enjoys the chase

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which might get very expense when you play hide a seek with a judge. :D

I have a notion of what you mean by a judgment but please spell it out.

Incidentally things are heating up @ my house. The fuzz appeared last week asking a repairman who was working next door if I was home and was told I was in Florida (the truth) and would be back this weekend. Is the end nigh? Will a squad of sleuths now crawl out from under a rock and surround me?

Hectored Hillbilly

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Quoting Phrantzes

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My attorney says it's only a matter of time until the law catches up with me and I'm served. How will the plaintiff's attorney find me? And once this happens, is it legal for me to lie and deny being the person seached for? Or does this make me liable for another legal charge?

Puzzled Hillbilly

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Since you had insurance, it really doesn't matter if they locate/serve you directly or not. Once they serve via publication, that accomplishes that issue and your insurance will then make the payout on your behalf.

Then your carrier will probably drop you as an insured, making it more difficult and expensive to find a new insurance carrier.

Affordable new insurance will be about as elusive as you are to the process server lol! :D

OR....your carrier can deny coverage based on lack of cooperation and the victim can pursue you directly. Since suit has already been filed, they can move for summary judgment and request suspension of your driver's license (pay up or you never get it back)....then you can play coy with every cop in town as you'll get carted off to jail every time you get pulled over.

Gee, this sounds appealing. :rolleyes: