New Career: Process Server, John Perez
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Catherine J. Barrier and Krista DiCostanzo were
prepared for the September 5, 2000 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper.
All rights reserved.
Foreign Trade: Process Serving
Top Of PageChina Trade: Getting Easier
When the U.S. House of Representatives passed the
Permanent
Normal Trade Relations with China act (PNTR), it spurred considerable
interest within New Jersey businesses about future trade possibilities
with China. Jose Gomez Rivera III, acting director of International
Trade & Protocol for the state, indicates that last year New Jersey’s
trade with China was significant, “And the fact that trading’s
going to be easier can only help,” says Rivera, a graduate of
Seton Hall University, Class of ’80, and of New York University’s
law school (609-633-3606).
With this federal push for permanent trade relations with China, the
upcoming China-Zhejiang 2000 Economic & Trade Fair in New Jersey is
a timely one. The free event is at New Brunswick’s Hyatt Regency
Hotel,
from Monday to Wednesday, September 11 to 13. Hours are Monday from
noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday from 10 to 5 p.m., and Wednesday from 10 to
3. Go to www.aaisa.org/zhejiangshow or call Jane Tublin at
732-745-5050,
extension 5174.
The fair is jointly sponsored by the Foreign Trade and Economic
Cooperation
Bureau of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government of the People’s
Republic of China and such U.S. organizations as the New Jersey
Commerce
& Economic Growth Commission and the City of New Brunswick.
Earlier this year, the U. S. and China reached a bilateral agreement
that allows for up to 50 percent foreign ownership of companies
involved
in telecommunications and Internet functions within the People’s
Republic
of China (PRC). In exchange, the U.S. was to establish permanent
normal
trade relations with China, rather than continue the one-year,
renewable
trade agreement it had had.
Seeking to be admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO), China
agreed for the first time to accept foreign ownership in its strategic
markets, In turn, the U.S. House of Representatives moved to comply
with the U.S. concession in the agreement, passing PNTR. While PNTR
now awaits consideration in the U.S. Senate, China is busy negotiating
agreements with a number of other nations — all as a prerequisite
for membership in the WTO. “It’s expected once PNTR passes the
Senate, China will be admitted to the WTO,” says Rivera.
“New Jersey already has significant, rather robust trade with
the PRC. In 1997-’98, New Jersey firms exported $720 million worth
of products to China, but trade with China wasn’t as streamlined as
it now can be because of PNTR,” says Rivera. The following year,
New Jersey had a reduction in the volume of trade with China,
exporting
about $594 million worth of goods. Two things contributed to that
reduction: the Asian crisis and the fact that a lot of banks were
shy about extending export financing anywhere in the world because
of some real credit crunches.
Then last year New Jersey businesses, including many along the U.S.
1 corridor, exported to China considerable quantities of goods ranging
from electronics and electrical equipment ($208 million worth) to
scrap metal ($29.6 million), fabricated metal products ($139 million),
chemical and allied products ($67 million), and industrial machinery
and computers ($43 million).
“The fact that China is moving towards admission in the World
Trade Organization — and that a market of 1.3 billion consumers
is moving into a rules-based trading system — will establish a
long-lasting and very productive relationship for the U.S., and more
particularly, for New Jersey,” says Rivera.
Many New Jersey companies now realize the tremendous opportunities
that lie ahead in increased international trade with China. Trading
opportunities and markets tend to be looked at on the basis of either
population (consumer demands) or per capita income. So with its
overall
market of 1.3 billion and the annual per capita income on the east
coast, in the area around Zhejiang, China promises to be an
increasingly
important market for New Jersey products. “And the Chinese
economic
growth rates over the last decade have approached seven percent, which
is significant,” says Rivera.
With the growing population, annual per capita income, and economic
growth rate, and with PNTR, which is seen by many as a sort of first
thrust at really exploring the Chinese market, international trade
with China is becoming more and more interesting, “All that just
combines to make China a kind of cutting-edge market opportunity,”
says Rivera.
Businesses looking to consider targeting the growing Chinese market
— and especially the Zhejiang area market — have some long
and short term options for assistance:
The New Jersey State Department of International Trade andProtocol provides information and access to various helpfulresources(609-777-0885). Market analyses, contacts, market leads, informationon incoming trade fairs/shows, suggestions on what resources areavailablefor education in terms of doing business in China, suggestions onhow to acquire financing, and export information are all availablethrough this department.The 2000 Economic & Trade Fair will allow businessprofessionalsto explore the Chinese market close-up for export/importopportunities,to find opportunities for industrial technology transfer, licensing,and investment in the exploding China market throughout the Zhejiangarea, and to receive help in being matched up with appropriate Chinesecompanies for further contact.A continuing relationship with Zhejiang province. The40,000 square miles of the coastal province of Zhejiang lies justsouth of Shanghai City and the Yangtze River delta and is home toabout 45 million people. It is known for its tea, silk, porcelain,and papermaking, and boasts a large well-educated work-force,”Zhejiang province is quite dynamic and it’s actually focusedon telecommunications and high-tech, so it tends to match New Jerseyto some extent,” says Rivera. New Jersey has had a sister staterelationshipwith Zhejiang province since 1977. “And sister state relationshipstend to involve a number of exchanges, both commercial and cultural,so we have a very, very active relationship with Zhejiang province.We kind of match up bilateral commercial opportunities.”For the first time, with this trade fair, Zhejiang is extending itshand of friendship to the businesses, manufacturers, investors, andcitizens of New Jersey. Governor Chai Songyue is expected to headthe Zhejiang delegation, and Governor Whitman and other New Jerseyofficials are expected at the trade fair’s inauguration.International trade is becoming more important for the overall jobmarket here. In 1999 New Jersey received $30.5 billion in foreigndirect investment. These monies sustained approximately 300,000 jobsin the Garden State. “One out of every seven employees in thisstate either works directly or has same kind of business orprofessionalrelationship with a company that is involved in internationaltrade,”says Riviera. “It touches a lot of lives in New Jersey.”New Jersey is already home to 30 Chinese companies, and with theprospectsof permanent normal trade relations being established in the nearfuture, and China’s expected entrance into the WTO, finding out moreabout trade with China just makes good business sense. “PNTR hasmobilized the sense that China trade is the `new frontier’ ininternationalcommerce,” says Rivera.— Catherine J. BarrierTop Of PageNew Career: Process Server, John PerezUntil now, a foreclosure notice had to be deliveredby a sheriff’s officer. Now civilian process servers can do this job.Process serving officially opens to the public in New Jersey the firstweek in September, now that a new New Jersey Supreme Court rule hasgone into effect. The industry is anticipating the new challengesand opportunities for business that the rule changes will present.A seminar on Saturday, September 9, at 9 a.m. at the New Jersey LawCenter on Ryders Lane in New Brunswick, will introduce newcomers tothis job. Entitled “How to serve legal papers in New Jersey,”it is part of a series of state-wide seminars run by the Brick-basedNew Jersey Legal Process Service, in conjunction with the NationalInstitute for Professional Process Service. Cost: $189. CallDonna-MarieCarlucci, director of the National Institute for ProfessionalProcessService, at 973-218-0485.The seminars will cover a wide range of topics, including thefundamentalconcepts of due process, jurisdiction, the nature and purpose of thelegal process, and codes of conduct, both state and federal. Alsoto be discussed will be various forms of civil process, requirements,limitations, and proper proofs of service.The speaker will be John Perez, a Brick-based New Jersey attorneywho was also a proponent for the rule change at hearings before theNew Jersey Supreme Court last May. The change will affect the processserving industry — the serving of legal papers such as complaintsand summonses, subpoenas, and evictions.Those who sue someone must file a complaint, says Perez, which thengoes to the court. The filer then needs to have it delivered to the”defendant” or the other person involved. That “paper”needing to be “served” has traditionally been served by thesheriff, says Perez. “Historically, it was the role of the sheriffto serve papers and, up until now, the sheriff has been the preferredemissary of the court.” If 40 days passed, and the sheriff wasstill having difficulty serving the papers, Perez explains, privateprocess servers could be hired to do the job.Now, with the adoption by the New Jersey Supreme Court of the newamendments to Rule 4: 4-3, anyone over the age of 18 will be ableto serve papers in the state of New Jersey. In the federal court,this rule has already been in effect, says Perez, and the majorityof the states currently have this rule in place. The rule went intoeffect on Tuesday, September 5.”So what does this mean?” asks Perez. “Serving papersisn’t something that they teach you in law school, at the paralegalschools, or in the police academy. What little training there is,is usually given at the sheriff’s department. There is no schoolcurrentlyin New Jersey that teaches you how to serve papers,” he says.”These seminars are the closest thing to it.””There is a real need for proper training in this area, a needfor good training. If papers aren’t served properly, it ends up beingan egg on everybody’s face,” says Perez.According to Perez, even private process servers who have alreadybeen serving legal process will benefit from the education andtrainingthe seminars will offer. They will have the opportunity to “finetune what they’re already doing” and brush up on the court rules,says Perez.On the other hand, the people who are coming in “totallyuninformed,”will need to learn the entire system, says Perez. These so-called”newcomers” can be anyone from private detectives toparalegalsto court reporters, “just about anyone who looks at it as apotentialbusiness opportunity,” says Perez.Perez believes that the court rule changes will have a beneficialimpact on the private process serving industry, which he says, hasincreased dramatically over the last 20 years. Every state has privateprocess servers. Since the industry has been opened up, it has aneven bigger potential to attract business. Serving papers now “hasthe potential to become a multi-million dollar industry in New Jerseyalone,” he says.”We don’t work a 9 to 5 day — we are out there seven daysa week,” says Perez, “and we can cover the entire length ofNew Jersey. If we find you have moved, we can come and get you there.We can do skip traces that a sheriff’s department cannot do. And weprovide immediate service.”Not surprisingly, county sheriffs opposed the rule and point out thatattorneys and their clients will pay higher rates to private servers,who charge from $30 to $75. Typical rates for a sheriff’s office rangefrom $13 for a summons & complaint to $35 for a writ of execution,plus mileage. If private service becomes very popular, the county’sfees would drop.”We served 21,000 processes last year, which comes out to 1,700per month,” says Donald Almasy, chief warrant officer inthe Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department, which has 14 peoplededicatedto process serving. “I haven’t had many, if any, attorneys callme with a complaint.”Private servers may be able to work more quickly — picking uppapers at the attorney’s office rather than getting them by mail,and doing their own detective work to correct bad addresses —but they don’t have a badge. “The power of the badge carries somuch more weight than the average person,” says Almasy. Serversare sometimes called on to testify in court that they served a warrantto a specific person meeting a certain description. “If thecivilianprocess server is not a sworn officer of the court, testimony wouldbe scrutinized.”And, Almasy points out, every situation is different, each has a risk.”You never know what a person’s mental condition will be whenyou knock on the door and serve divorce papers or eviction notice.We carry a little more weight when go and talk to people.””These are non-hostile situations,” counters Perez. “Youdon’t need a symbol of authority to do this.”— Krista DiCostanzoNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
