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I paid an attorney to file a lawsuit for me and I found out today that his license was disbarred from The State Bar of California because he failed to pay Bar member fee. There is no more office address, if I want to suit him to get my money back, where should I serve the paper?Thank you
Optional Information: Country relating to Question: United States State (if USA): California
Hello,
Thanks for your question. I'm very sorry about your situation.
In California, there are three ways in which you can serve the defendant with your complaint:
* Personal service - someone gives the summons and complaint to the defendant
* Service by mail - someone mails the summons and complaint to the defendant
* Service by publication - you would publish the summons and complaint in the newspaper that the defendant is most likely to read. You have to obtain permission from the court in order to use service by publication, and typically, you will have to try personal service a few times first.
If this attorney had a local office, he probably lives somewhere in the immediate vicinity. You could try to find his home address and have him served there, by personal service. If you can't locate him by personal service, you can ask the court for permission to serve him by publication (printing a notice in the newspaper).
So, even if he ultimately can't be located, you can still serve him by publication.
If you need any additional information, please ask before you give me a rating for my service. Thanks, XXXXX XXXXX luck.
Juliana
Experience: 23 years of experience; former prosecutor, magistrate, child support attorney