J. Tyler Cox

Getting served with legal papers is not a fun experience. There is really no other way to put it. It doesn’t help that these papers are often served on the person at work to avoid confrontation, which adds to the embarrassment and confusion. However, as stressful as being involved in a lawsuit is, swift action in hiring counsel is an extremely important step in addressing it.

One of the common scenarios given in my first year of Civil Procedure was that clients would be served with papers requiring an answer (30 days in Mississippi), would lay the papers on the counter, and forget about it for 26 days. They would then see the papers while cleaning up and realize that they needed to hire a lawyer. While it may be tempting to try and ignore the fact that you are being sued, you should take fast action to protect your rights to be heard.

In custody actions, the summons is different than one requiring a written answer, and provides the person served with a time and place certain to appear and defend themselves. That hearing is called a temporary hearing, because it outlines the Court’s order on what the parties are to do until trial. This temporary order includes the parameters of visitation with the child as well as the support obligation of the parent who is not exercising primary physical custody. Depending on the space of the court docket, these temporary hearings are usually not set for very far out from the service of the complaint, so that the party bringing the suit can get some temporary relief while awaiting trial.

When you are served with papers such as these, don’t lay them on the counter and forget about them! As Jimmy Two Times would say in the 1990 film Goodfellas, you need to go “get the papers, get the papers.” Get those papers and take them to a lawyer well before that temporary hearing date so that you and your attorney can talk about what will be the most effective strategy from there. The sooner you hire a lawyer when you are served with papers, the better.

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