Service of Process

The delivery of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.

Additional Sources

Answers.com

The delivery of a writ, summons, or complaint to a defendant or witness. Service of process gives reasonable notice to allow the person to appear, testify, and be heard in court.

Law.com Dictionary

n. the delivery of copies of legal documents such as summons, complaint, subpena, order to show cause (order to appear and argue against a proposed order), writs, notice to quit the premises and certain other documents, usually by personal delivery to the defendant or other person to whom the documents are directed. So-called "substituted service" can be accomplished by leaving the documents with an adult resident of a home, with an employee with management duties at a business office or with a designated "agent for acceptance of service" (often with name and address filed with the state's Secretary of State), or, in some cases, by posting in a prominent place followed by mailing copies by certified mail to the opposing party. In certain cases of absent or unknown defendants, the court will allow service by publication in a newspaper. Once all parties have filed a complaint, answer or any pleading in a lawsuit, further documents usually can be served by mail or even FAX.

Lect Law Library

SERVICE OF PROCESS - Delivery of the statement of claim or other pleadings to those parties named in a court or other adversarial proceeding.

To execute a writ or process; as, to serve a writ of capias signifies to arrest a defendant under the process to serve a summons, is to deliver a copy of it at the house of the party, or to deliver it to him personally, or to read it to him; notices and other papers are served by delivering the same at the house of the party, or to him in person.

When the service of a writ is prevented by the act of the party on whom it is to be served, it will, in general, be sufficient if the officer does everything in his power to serve it.

A party to a lawsuit has the right to receive written notice that he is being sued or that a hearing will be held which might affect him in some way. Many rules have been developed to govern what notice needs to be given, and how and when it must be delivered. These are usually contained in court rules and rules of civil procedure.

Service of court papers (also referred to as service of process or service) is the delivery of court papers to a party, witness or other person who has a stake in the case. Every state has detailed laws spelling out just how the papers may be delivered, and by whom. When a person has been provided with formal notice of the filing of a lawsuit (that is, that he has been sued), of a court hearing or trial, or ordering him to attend a hearing, trial or deposition, he is said to have been served.

The Free (Legal) Dictionary

Delivery of a writ, summons, or other legal papers to the person required to respond to them.

Process is the general term for the legal document by which a lawsuit is started and the court asserts its jurisdiction over the parties and the controversy. In modern U.S. law, process is usually a summons. A summons is a paper that tells a defendant that he is being sued in a specific court that the plaintiff believes has jurisdiction. Served with the summons is a complaint that contains the plaintiff's allegations of wrongdoing by the defendant and the legal remedy sought by the plaintiff. The summons also informs the defendant that he has a specified number of days under law to respond to the summons and complaint. If the defendant does not respond, the plaintiff may seek a default judgment from the court, granting the plaintiff the legal relief specified in the complaint.

Wikipedia

Service of process is the procedure employed to give legal notice to a person (such as a defendant) of a court or administrative body's exercise of its jurisdiction over that person so as to enable that person to respond to the proceeding before the court, body or other tribunal. Usually, notice is furnished by delivering a set of court documents (called "process") to the person to be served.