Hawkins and E-Z Messenger Legal-Support Providers, LLC (HELP, LLC)
Hawkins and E-Z Messenger Legal-Support Providers, LLC (HELP, LLC) is a combination of the two largest legal services businesses in the State of Arizona . With offices in Tucson and Phoenix , both companies offer a number of attorney support services including legal service of process, court courier service, court research, legal messenger service, and skip tracing and investigation.
Modern-day process servers owe their lineage to the English bailiff, whose powers included the serving and enforcement of common law decrees such as writs of attainder (the loss of civil rights, or sentence of death), or habeas corpus (a call for one in custody to be brought to court). At the turn of the century, constables and court officers handled notification of court proceedings until the 1930's. This was eventually taken over by the sheriff departments, creating what is now known as the civil division. As most understand, governmental agencies are understaffed and ineffective. This led to the emergence of the private sector service providers. The term private process server was coined to describe an official who could serve legal documents, but who had no law enforcement powers. As these cottage businesses grew, the attorneys and law firms began to rely heavily upon this new service.
As time passed, consolidation of service providers became a means of establishing strong competitive position. Some operations saw a grander scope and began adding specialized departments with managers. Some even had a bigger vision of multiple offices, even operating on a statewide basis. This move eventually crossed the United States with California becoming a strong leader in the process serving industry. The formation of a state association to lobby for and against legislation became a vital part of the process server. Licensing and continuing education of the process server gave clout when it came to advertising and solicitation of new business.
In 1982, Federal legislation was introduced that would allow the postal service to serve legal process. The California Association of Photocopiers and Process Servers (CAPPS) received word from one of its members and the fight was on. A meeting of well-known process servers throughout the United States was held in Las Vegas to discuss this Federal legislation. NAPP was formed to oppose this Federal legislation. The proposed legislation was defeated.
The future will bring local, national and international contracts regarding service of process of retail collection law suits, tax foreclosures, child support enforcement and domestic violence restraining orders. Additional services being requested include skip tracing, out of state service forwarding, photocopy, courier services, public record searches, daily court filings, rush court filings, fax service, notary public, secretarial services, surveillance, police report retrieval, court file monitoring, subpoena preparation, computer investigations, court reporting, paralegal services, interpretation and translation services, small claims services, legal research and judgment collection. Attorneys are requesting that qualified attorney service providers perform all services on a nationwide basis.
HELP LLC is based in Tucson and Phoenix , Arizona and employs approximately 150 people.
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