You’ve Been Served! Really?
We’ve all seen movies where a clever process server tries to serve divorce papers to an unwilling recipient.“Fed Ex!” “Flower delivery!” Whatever costume it takes to hand papers to someone or drop them at their feet, right?
Well, how about this one? A process server is 12 feet away from you at a bar. From a distance, she tells you she has papers for you. You say, “No you don’t,” and you walk away until you’re out the door and driving home.
Incidentally, after you said, “No you don’t” and started walking away, even though you weren’t even looking at her, she tossed the documents in your general direction and said out loud, “You’ve been served.” Were you served?
Yes, according to the Second Appellate District
in the case of In re Ball, which contained essentially the same facts. What if you’re 20 feet away? What if you never acknowledge the process server? The answer is that it depends on the circumstances. The guidance we’ve been given by the Ball court is this:
“We take it that when men are within easy speaking distance of each other and facts occur that would convince a reasonable man that personal service of a legal document is being attempted, service cannot be avoided by denying service and moving away without consent to take the document in hand.” In re Ball (1934) 2 Cal.App.2d 578.
Reasonable advice, but of course…
People can spend thousands arguing about whether certain actions constituted good service or not. I just had a case where an “avoider” was called on it by the court. Not only did the court decide that he had been served, but he was made to pay some of my client’s attorneys’ fees for having to defend against his allegation of non-service.
Alas, in law as in life, avoidance doesn’t pay off.
Ms. Armine Baltazar is an experienced Mediator and highly skilled Collaborative Family Law Attorney.
Armine was born in Bucharest, Romania, but was raised in the Los Angeles area since the age of three. She graduated from UCLA, Summa Cum Laude, with a Political Science degree. Armine went on to attend the UCLA School of Law. During law school, Armine Baltazar excelled in her studies, receiving the American Jurisprudence Award in Constitutional Law.
After graduating from UCLA Law , Ms. Baltazar practiced corporate finance law at a large firm in New York . Dissatisfied with the impersonal nature of corporate practice, Ms. Baltazar turned to family law and has been practicing family law since 1999. She is currently a principal at the family law firm of Hammers & Baltazar, LLP, with offices in Santa Monica and Newport Beach, California.
Ms. Baltazar is currently a member of;
• International Association of Collaborative Law Professionals,
• Family Law Sections of the State Bar of California and
• Los Angeles County Bar Assocaition,
• Los Angeles Collaboriative Family Law Association and the
• Los Angeles Westside Collaborative Divoce Professionals.
• Ms. Baltazar, has appeared on the CBS evening news for her legal commentary with regard to family law.
Armine is a graduate of the American Bar Association’s Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute. Although primarily involved with family law litigation, Ms. Baltazar prides herself on her and the firm’s increasingly growing practice in the fields of mediation and collaborative law. Armine has received training as a mediator and a collaborative law attorney.
Areas of Practice:
80% Dissolution
20% Paternity
Litigation Percentage:
60% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
40% of Practice Devoted to Collaborative Law and Mediated Settlements
Bar Admissions:
California, 1997
U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 1997
Education:
University of California at Los Angeles School of Law, Los Angeles, CA J.D.
Honors: American Jurisprudence Award for Constitutional Law
University of California, Los Angeles, 1993 B.A Honors: Summa Cum Laude
California State University Northridge, Northridge, 1999 Honors: Dean’s List
Professional Associations and Memberships:
California State Bar Association Member,
Family Law Section Co-Chair of Custody Committe, South 2008 – 2009 Vice Chair of Custody Committee, South, 2007 – 2008
Former member of Financial Issues Committee
Los Angeles County Bar Association Member, Family Law Section
Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association Member
Los Angeles Westside Collaborative Divorce Professionals Member
International Association of Collaborative Professionals Member
Past Employment Positions:
Skadden
Arps
Slate
Meagher & Flom, Associate, 1997 – 1998
Languages:
English
Armenian
Romanian
