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Showing posts from June, 2017

Arkansas Court of Appeals Sets Aside 8-Year Old Judgment Due to A Deficient Warning Order Affidavit

The Arkansas Court of Appeals recently took the wood to a default judgment that was entered against a defendant solely on the basis of constructive service by warning order. See Self v. Hustead , 2017 Ark. 339 .   In this case, our firm, Daily & Woods, P.L.L.C. represented the successful appellant. Setting the Stage All lawsuits begin with the filing of a complaint.   The Court does not acquire jurisdiction over the defendant, however, until he is served with the summons.   Service of process rules must be complied with exactly and while there are several ways to serve a defendant in person, none of those methods were relevant in Self .   In that case, service was constructive, and “accomplished” through the publication of a warning order. Warning order service amounts to notice by way of an ad in the newspaper that more or less says, “Hey…Pssst…You’ve been sued.”   Unless the defendant scans the classified ads on a daily basis, he’ll never see it.   In fact, I don’