Process servers provides an essential legal support service, without which the entire court schedule would become backlogged and stagnant. By fulfilling this pivotal role, process servers ensure that legal cases are able to move forward in a timely manner, upholding various aspects of due process, which is guaranteed to Americans under the U.S. Constitution. However, due process isn’t the only legal requirement process servers must abide by…they must also ensure that client confidentiality and privacy is always respected. In this post, we’ll discuss the importance of client confidentiality and privacy as it relates to legal ethics and ways process servers can be sure they’re operating within the bounds of all applicable laws.
Upholding the Integrity of the Legal System
You may believe that client confidentiality and privacy issues only revolve around making sure no one can access a client’s sensitive personal information. While this is a main concern in the realm of client confidentiality and privacy, an arguably more important aspect is that upholding these tenets helps maintain the integrity of the entire legal system. For our legal system to be effective and fair, citizens must believe that those working within the system are handling their personal information appropriately. The trust that this belief creates between citizens and the legal system is paramount to those citizens feeling secure in using the legal system without fear of exposing their personal information.
Protecting Personal Information
Process servers are often given access to information not available in public spaces. This could include personal details, financial information, and other potentially sensitive or even embarrassing information about a client. If this information were to fall into the wrong hands due to poor handling by the process server, the process server could be held legally responsible for any harm or damages the client incurs as a result. Furthermore, confidentiality and privacy expectations should extend beyond the client who has paid for the service. Process servers should take care to also protect the personal information of the intended recipients of process, even though these individuals or businesses are not the process server’s paying client. A good rule of thumb for process servers is if you don’t have to disclose information, then don’t.
Technology’s Role – Help or Hindrance?
While the explosion in using digital means to store and transmit information, including legal documents, may seem to make protecting client information more difficult, it doesn’t necessarily have to be. By leveraging advanced document management software, process servers can securely store, access, and deliver legal documents with assurance that those documents cannot be accessed by anyone other than those designated. These software programs add an extra layer of protection to the client’s sensitive information and gives process servers a credible source to fall back on if any questions come up.
Building Professional Relationships
Process servers often build a loyal client base, with repeat clients eventually making up the majority of their workload. Showing utmost consideration to client confidentiality and privacy is a fundamental building block of these long-term relationships. When clients know that a process server is trustworthy through years of positive interactions, they don’t hesitate to use that same server again and again or recommend the server to others in need.
The Most Trustworthy Process Servers in the Carolinas
Process servers are custodians of sensitive information about not just their own clients, but also other individuals related to the case being served. By upholding the principles of confidentiality and privacy when dealing with this information, process servers maintain the integrity of the legal system, build a network of appreciative clients, and solidify their own reputations as trustworthy and honorable. If you want this caliber of process service in the Charlotte area, look no further than Accurate Serve of Charlotte. With expertise working in both North and South Carolina, we treat each case we handle as if the personal information were our very own. Give us a call at 704-858-2952 or send us a work request online to start working with the Queen City’s most trustworthy process service team today!
