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Law vocabulary · Lawsuits & Procedure

Serve

Meaning in law, with examples

/sɜːv/verbCommon term

In law, serve means: To deliver a legal document, such as a claim, summons or notice, to a person in the way the rules require, so that it officially reaches them.

In Turkish: tebliğ etmek, tebligat yapmak

How it is used

Documents are 'served on' a party: 'The claim form was served on the defendant on 3 May.' The noun is 'service' ('service of process', 'proof of service'). Rules on service are strict, especially for parties abroad, and mistakes can delay a case for months.

Example sentences

  1. We have not yet been able to serve the defendant, who seems to have moved abroad.

  2. The notice was served by registered post.

Common collocations

  • serve a claim
  • serve on the defendant
  • service of process
  • proof of service
  • serve notice
  • summonsAn official document from a court ordering a person to appear before it, or telling a defendant that a case has been started against them.
  • complaintIn US civil procedure, the first document a plaintiff files to start a lawsuit, setting out the facts, the legal claims and what the plaintiff asks the court to order.
  • fileTo officially give a document to a court or public office so that it becomes part of the record, for example to start a case or to answer one.
  • proceedingsThe formal steps of a legal case, from the moment it is started until it is finished; the legal process as a whole.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Lawsuits & Procedure

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.