Don’t sign a Waiver of Service of Summons form before speaking with an attorney.
As defense attorneys, we are concerned that people receiving a Waiver of Service of Summons form in the mail from the movie company’s lawyer will lead to an unfair default judgment against them. Please speak with an attorney experienced in movie download federal copyright lawsuits.
The prevalence of this happening varies over time, state, and the legal counsel representing the movie company.
There are two scenarios that tend to happen with Waiver of Service Summons forms:
Scenario 1: You have received the form but do not yet have a lawyer representing you.
In this scenario, you probably received a notice from your internet service provider and a copy of the subpoena from Bodyguard Productions, Inc. but ignored it. As a result, Bodyguard Productions’ lawyers were able to use the court to get your name and address, and they have now sent you the form by mail.
It’s not too late to get legal representation! Make sure you have a consultation to understand your options for moving forward.
Scenario 2:
You have legal representation who has contacted Bodyguard Productions, Inc. on your behalf to negotiate settlement options.
These settlement negotiations have not yet been successful by the time the court’s deadline to serve the defendant comes around, so the movie company HAS to serve the defendant with the lawsuit Summons or else their lawsuit will be dismissed by the Court.
So, the movie company attorney requests that the lawyer representing the ISP Subscriber (Defendant) accept service of process on behalf of the defendant so the movie company attorney does not have to hire a process server or US Marshalls to physically find the defendant and hand them the court lawsuit Summons.
In this second scenario, it can be highly advantageous for the defense attorney to accept service of the summons on behalf of the client (with the client’s consent) due to a technicality that allows the Defendant much more additional time for negotiations until paperwork must be filed in court.
We use this additional time (a total of 60 days) to continue settlement negotiations without further cost to the client.
Much of the time the case will settle before more expensive paperwork must be drafted and then filed in the court before the 60 day period runs out.
If you have received a Waiver of Service Summons from the lawyers representing Bodyguard Productions, Inc., contact us for a free consultation today.
