“Special Delivery!”

Proving Service of Process

Filing an Affidavit of Service of Process for Designated Delivery Services such as UPS or FedEX.

You may have read our previous posts on serving process through “designated delivery service” and the presumption of proper service on a corporation by FedEx delivery to its receptionist. Both posts discuss how in North Carolina, you can now serve a summons and complaint with specific private carriers, but only if you use the specific carriers and the specific types of delivery authorized by the rule and the corresponding federal statute. If you haven't done so yet, you need to read those posts and to download our free outline, “Using Designated Delivery Services to Serve Process in North Carolina”.

Of  course, you still have to execute that procedure correctly or you risk

• failing to acquire proper jurisdiction
• blowing a statute of limitation and
• having all your claims being barred.

That is why you should always hire an experienced North Carolina business litigation attorney or an experienced North Carolina real estate attorney to make sure that you get your lawsuit served properly and that your case is handled correctly from the beginning. If you don't, the consequences can be fatal to your case.

Proving Service of Process by Designated Delivery Service

Once you have used one of the authorized carriers and its authorized type of delivery, you still have to prove you actually served the opposing party. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.10 sets out the requirements of proof of service. It reads in part as follows:

(5) Service by Designated Delivery Service. – In the case of service by designated delivery service, by affidavit of the serving party averring all of the following:

a. That a copy of the summons and complaint was deposited with a designated delivery service as authorized under G.S. 1A‑1, Rule 4, delivery receipt requested.

b. That it was in fact received as evidenced by the attached delivery receipt or other evidence satisfactory to the court of delivery to the addressee.

c. That the delivery receipt or other evidence of delivery is attached.

Download our Form Affidavit of Service of Process by Designated Delivery Service

North Carolina transaction attorneys and out-of-state attorneys associate our firm to serve as North Carolina Local Trial Counsel in State and Federal Courts. As a service to our existing and potential co-counsel we have made available for download a Word version of our form Affidavit of Service by private delivery service in North Carolina. Of course, neither our outline, “Using Designated Delivery Services to Serve Process in North Carolina”, nor our form affidavit guarantees that your service of process in your case will survive a motion to dismiss, but we hope it will serve as a helpful starting point.

While you are here, you should also check the box to subscribe to our free newsletter, North Carolina Local Counsel. With it, you can keep up with key developments and changes in local rules in Wake County and across North Carolina in state and federal Courts.

To download the free Word version of our form affidavit of service of process by designated delivery service, you should fill out the form below.

Would You Like to Learn More?

Looking for more resources? We have assembled a collection of resources for attorneys who need to practice pro hac vice in North Carolina State Court or as special appearance attorney in the EDNC. To review those resources, you should click here.

We also have additional resources for North Carolina transaction attorneys and out-of-state attorneys who associate us as North Carolina Local Trial Counsel. Want to learn more?