I heard that someone was trying from a different state to serve me with paperwork in a civil law suit. I never was served by any means. No certified letters, no notes on my door nothing. I heard the case was going to court this week. It was initially a suit between two people and the guy being sued was trying to bring me into the law suit as a stall tactic saying that it was my fault. What should I do.

Depends on how you "heard" about the lawsuit. If someone was handed papers on your behalf, that's legal service and you HAVE been served. You can always argue the point that it's not completed service because you didn't receive a copy by mail and they will argue the point that they mailed it and when you're in Court you'll get served again if it's decided service was insufficient.

If, on the other hand, no one has papers, no one has handed you anything or mailed you anything, then you have NOT been served and don't have to anything.

Without more info about the lawsuit it's hard to know - are you being brought in as a third-party Defendant? A witness?

The danger of this always is, because you've "heard" about the lawsuit that a Judgment could be obtained against you and then you have to try to set it aside. It's a lot easier to simply defend the matter from the beginning.

I am most definitely not saying this is the case here but people post this and similar questions all the time and the bottom line is they WERE served and are simply denying it.

Since all lawsuit records (until after Judgment, in some cases) are open for public view go or call the court clerk's office and see what papers have been filed, whether you've been named a party to the suit, what they say about your being served with legal process.

You don't have to identify yourself when you call so nobody will know you have called.

Normally no, you won't have a Judgment rendered against you unless you've been served and then defaulted (not replied as law permits you to do).

We must live in different areas of the Country - in my area lawsuit records are not available for public viewing nor will the Clerk answer questions over the telephone. You can't just call and find out some else's info.

You can go down to the Courthouse, present ID and ask to see your own cases.

Bullwhacky!

The law everywhere, in every state is unless records are specifically legislated to be closed, they are OPEN to viewing by anybody.

I've gone to clerk's offices and looked at lawsuit records in a number of states and federal courts, never encountered any trouble whatsoever.

Until a lawsuit is adjudicated, the only records that would be available is the filing. Even thenI doubt if this would be available from a phone call. But it should be available at the courthouse.

Everything in the court's file would be available to be seen, via that state's "open records" acts... complaint, service citations issued by the clerk and return of service on parties served, motions, court orders, written interrogatories and the replies thereto.

Of course the transcripts of oral depositions won't be there as they belong to the lawyers who took and were involved in the depositions.

But there's a vast amount of info open to the public to be seen by anybody who cares to go look.

Of course the clerk's office is going to be staffed by people and some will be helpful and some will be hostile, just as with personnel of all kinds anywhere.

Before you jump all over me with your "bullwhacky" comments you didn't originally post "vast amount of info." You said, "Everything in the Court's file ..." "Vast amount" and "everything" are two different things. Your exact quote was: "Since all lawsuit records (until after Judgment, in some cases) are open for public view... "

I don't even know what you mean by "lawsuit records."

Your "bull-whacky" comment is WAY out of line on the legal boards - you can disagree all you want but you're supposed to be civil.

I do this for a living, 24/7, and my life would be so much easier if I could pick up the phone and call the Court Clerk and get info - instead, in my area at least, they ask me to physically show up with ID and, in many cases, authorization, in order to look into Court files.

Of course, after a Judgment is filed, then that Judgment is public record, but that's not the discussion here.

As a side issue once depositions are admitted - and a great many of them are - they ARE part of the Court file.

Open records - are you perhaps in Texas? Several people from Texas on and off this thread lately - the other Texas people seemed to not remember what they had posted.

Can you provide an example of a state's "open records" acts? While most states do have "Freedom of Information" statutes, they do not open everything all the time.

NY has FOIA (Freedom of Info Act) as do most (maybe all) states and anybody can quickly Google and find law on same.

The FOIA acts were enacted for this purpose... to keep officious public offices, agencies and the people who run them from deciding arbitrarily, to lock up records that should remain visible to all the public.

Can't imagine what it is you "do 24/7" and not know what "lawsuit records" are, or that they are, as per NY FOIA law, open for public viewing unless sealed by court order (see below).

Lawsuit is filed, process is served, defense files its answer then lawyers get it ready for trial... all this paperwork constitutes lawsuit records.

"Everything in a court file" means just that.

Asking for your "authorization" is good example of what FOIA was supposed to eliminate. It's none of their business WHY you or I might want to look in a court file.

I've just gone to desk, told the desk clerk I want to see file Jones vs Smith, #123 etc. and to please pull it and hand it to me, and never had to explain who I was or my reasons,etc.

With the internet I'm sure your NY lawsuit files are online so you can at least find parties names and case numbers online.

Before the trial and before any hearings are held on motions, the transcripts of the oral depositions are not normally in the court's file; in fact, few depositions are "admitted" (into evidence I take it you mean), although they sometimes are and I've done so in many suits I've tried. If they have been admitted, then of course they become part of the court's file.

Oral depos are much more commontly used to cross-examine a witness and are in my own expreience rarely offered per se, into evidence.

A court reporter has delivered those transcripts to the lawyers involved who've ordered same and those belong to the lawyers and the lawyers are normally not going to "file" those w the clerk. It's just not normally to the lawyers' advantage or the court reporter to file same with the clerk so no reason to expect to find oral depos in the court's file.

As my name here indicates, I'm in State of WA and here, just as in any state in the country, I can go to the clerk's front desk and ask for and see 99% of court files.

Now there are of course "sealed files" as per some judge's order or judgment, and those do lock files up from that point forward.

It is frequently done at the mutual request of the parties to a lawsuit when they are settling same, so as to keep others from seeing what the parties have agreed to settle for... how much, what terms, etc. The corporate defendant doesn't want everybody knowing what it has agreed to pay and the Plaintiffs, having been paid, either doesn't care or in fact also wants to keep nosy pubic out of it... or in many cases has agreed to keep those settlement terms secret and confidential.

When asked to provide a cite to backup your statements, this means some specific reference. not a general "anybody can quickly Google and find law on same."

If you had taken your own advice, you would have found that NYS's FOIL is not quite as you described. Try reading what the law provides here:
NYCOSH: Freedom of Information Law in New York State

Firstly, one can not simply call to get information. Secondly, one has to completely describe the information requested. In addition there is a list of things that can be excluded.

I also tried to find info for WA state, but couldn't (in a brief search) find confirmation that anyone "can go to the clerk's front desk and ask for and see 99% of court files".

[I'm a liability investigator, an independent, working for any number of law firms and occasionally defense firms.

You are an Attorney, I presume? So is it possible you have special privileges?

Of course, but that's not what we're talking about. We are talking about the "entire file."

You are agreeing with what I said - if they are admitted, they are part of the Court's file. They are not part of the entire history of the case, sitting at the Clerk's Office, waiting for someone to come in and look at them.

I question what you mean by "oral depositions" - I am talking about transcripts of statements, not question and answer sessions.

Again, Court Reporters are not the ONLY people who take statements. They are filed if they are used to cross examine. Happens all the time and I get called to testify as to their accuracy all the time. My reports and statements are subpoenaed by the "other side" all the time. You may wish to come to NY and argue that these belong to the Attorney as work product and are not mine to turn over.

The user names have little to do with actual identities and where the person is located. You could call yourself anything and be anywhere. Calling yourself the Easter Bunny doesn't actually mean you are the Easter Bunny.

Is the expression "bull whacky" a common response to a question in WA?