When one party sues another, the party initiating the lawsuit generally must notify the other person, business or organization by serving them with notice of the suit. If the defendant is not properly served, it can often get the lawsuit dismissed, so it is important for businesses in Nevada to do it right the first time if possible.
One of the main rules of service of process is that the person or entity being sued must be served in person. Sometimes, process servers must be creative in how they reach the defendant, especially if he or she is a celebrity and difficult to track down in person.
That appears to be what happened in the case of pop singer Ciara, who is being sued for breach of contract for allegedly failing to appear at a nightclub as promised. Ciara and the bar, which caters to a largely gay clientele, reportedly agreed to pay her $10,000 in exchange for an appearance the night before she was scheduled to perform at that city’s annual gay pride event on June 8.
After Ciara failed to show up, the club filed the breach of contract suit. To serve her, the plaintiff had a woman come to her June 8 performance, papers in hand. When the singer walked onto a catwalk near where fans were watching, the woman held the papers out to her. Ciara took the papers and then, perhaps realizing what they were, tossed them back.
A representative for Ciara says that the parties never reached a contract because the singer backed out earlier in the week.
Though Ciara and her attorneys may not be in possession of the service of notice, the bar will likely argue that she has been served and voluntarily decided to throw away the papers.
Source: Huffington Post, “Ciara Sued By LA Gay Bar, Served Papers During Pride Performance,” June 10, 2013
