Need direction to hire the correct type of legal counsel

[toys4kitty]

My jurisdiction is: Washington, USA

I am trying to figure out what the appropriate field of expertise is to hire legal representation.
A process server of over 10 years (independent contractor) was given a serve by one of the companies she works for. The serve was for damages from a car accident toward the end of the statute of limitations.
Long story short- the service is being contested and because the statute of limitations was up directly following the service, the process server is now being threatened with litigation.
The E&O insurance for the company that hired the process server is refusing to cover the claim and the originatin lawyer has stated that they will be seeking the amount of damages from the car accident from the process server.

What specialty of lawyer would be best to contact in a situation such as this?

Thank you in advance for any information to help me get on the right track.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I don't know the details but there is no case unless the service is deemed insufficient and case dismissed. With regard to the eventual lawsuit, I'm doubtful of recovery if there was no outright negligence. A factor will be the need to attempt service extremely quickly since the case itself was filed so close to the statute of limitations.

 

[toys4kitty]

Thank you for your reply.

Thank you for your reply.
The original case that the process server was serving on was dismissed. That is why there is concern to find an appropriate lawyer to help her through the possible litigation to follow.
She wants to find legal representation in advance as the lawyer for the original case has sent a letter to the company she served for stating that they would be seeking the original amount of damages from her.
This is the first time in over 10 years of being a process server that any of the cases that she's served on has been dismissed.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I don't know the details of why the service was deemed incomplete and the case dismissed. I also don't know how much money was in issue. If we aren't talking about a great deal of money, then consider the fact that a malpractice case can be costly, especially when as I said (a) the process server may not have been negligent and now we've got a 10 year positive reputation to deal with, and (b) the plaintiff served very close to the deadline and caused some of the problem of risk of improper service to be fatal.

We can refer you to an attorney but we'll also need to know more about where you are and the details of the case. You should use the support link on the bottom of the page. Still, I think you should think about the cost and expense involved.