All my opposition papers in response to moving papers for Lacambra vs. Glass et al were already drafted a few days before the deadline. My challenge was how to make copies of it and properly serve it – 4 in total – one for court, one for me and two for the opposition. I had already arranged to make copies at the “Public Law Center” but decided to find a way to make copies before I traveled to Santa Ana because things, as they always do, can change. The question was, what if the Manager was absent?
The day before, I met with Leah from the Mission Lutheran Church in Laguna Niguel who agreed to make me the copies I required. So on Wednesday morning, I met with her and within minutes, I had my copies ready for filling. The package included:
- Opposition to the Demurrer on First Amended Complaint
- Opposition to Motion for Sanctions
- Opposition to Demurrer; Motion to Strike; and Motion for Sanctions
- Case Management Statement
- Copy of Proof of Service
I then drove to the Laguna Hills Bus Depot and took the 83 Bus to Santa Ana to file the papers. After filing the papers in court, the next step was to have it served, which meant mailing the papers to the opposition lawyers. With no money left, I went to the “Public Law Center” and asked if they could serve my papers instead of making copies as we had agreed. Unfortunately, the system they have in place required that they take my case as a client. The reason wasn’t explained to me but I suspect they were hedging from liabilities being that they are public advocates.
Running out of time, I went back to pick up may car and drove to the Presbyterian Church of the Master in Mission Viejo and pleaded with the Pastor to help me serve it - a process called “POS” or “Proof of Service”. The process requires having someone state that they had witnessed the envelope being placed in a mail receptacle or that it was placed in a location where the Postal Service can pick it up. The critical element is that a person who is a party to the lawsuit cannot be a signatory. It has to be signed by someone else besides myself. Unless you are a legal professional, doing a “Proof of Service” is usually intimidating. At least that’s what I discovered over the many months. Needless to say, I hit a dead-end. But nevertheless, Nancy, the church receptionist, sent me away with a gas voucher worth $10, a $10 giftcard at Vons and 4 vouchers for a “Pollo Bowl” at El Pollo Loco. I was grateful but my mission was far from over.
Straight away I went to Saint Timothy’s Church in Laguna Niguel and met with Diane and another lady at the front office. I explained my predicament but was told that she was not comfortable signing the “Proof of Service”. I expected that much. So, as an alternative, they agreed to give me the over-sized envelope complete with adequate postage. When she said that, it actually felt like I hit a jackpot. Away I went but not without being handed a $25 Shell Gas Card. At that point, all I needed was someone to sign my POS.
I then went back to the AV Library hoping that I could see Ben, an acquaintance who once did a POS for me but to no avail. Finally, later in the evening, I met up with another acquaintance that I recently met at the library named Felix who gladly signed my POS. After sealing the envelopes, the packages were dropped in a mailbox and the job was partially done. The final step is to file the signed POS that Felix had signed with the court clerk. Court rules require that it be done within 10 days.
The experience, arduous as it was, served me incredibly well. At the very least, it showed me the extreme side of serving papers to opposition. The entire legal system was largely designed by lawyers for lawyers. That usually means legal firms with a support staff in place complete with a receptionist who will do a POS, a copy machine, a scale to weigh the envelope and enough stamps to make sure the envelope gets to the opposition. I made extensive notes on my experiences and will try to find a legislator who can sponsor a bill to level the playing field for self-represented litigators. I’m certain I can help craft legislation that can simplify the process of serving papers. I’ll keep our readers informed about this going forward.
