‘I never get bored’: What it’s like to be a process server in Las Vegas

Gregory Brown has learned some things in the years he has worked as a process server in Las Vegas.

That men avoid divorce papers, but women are often eager to receive them. That doctors behave well at work and badly when he serves them at home. That it’s better not to carry a gun or try to deceive people.

Process servers hand deliver court documents to people, providing notification of court cases. Brown, 58, said he became one after working as a security guard and serving as a Navy hospital corpsman.

“I never get bored,” he said. “My day’s always different. I always get to meet people. The stereotype is that … you’re only giving bad news and people are mean to you. But it’s actually much less common than you would think. People by nature are nicer than people give credit.”

It’s a job that can lead Brown to discover new parts of town, meet celebrities and run into people from his past.

He visits as many as 40 addresses a day and takes “copious notes” to document his work, he said. He needs a good record in case he is called testify about a visit in the future.

On TV, process servers sometimes wear disguises, but Brown thinks that’s “counterproductive.”

“If I showed up to your house with a pizza or flowers and then gave you legal papers, fool you once, shame on you,” he said. “But if I’m going to show up again, the goose is cooked.”

He often sees the same people over and over. One person could be the subject of a restraining order, divorce papers, a payday loan case and an eviction notice, he said, and he wants them to keep opening the door.

It’s important to make sure he has the right person and tries to hand the paperwork to them, but the actual requirements for service vary. Some states want him to try to obtain a signature from the person being served. New York requires he use black ink, he said.

The documents he serves also vary by location. He mostly serves businesses with subpoenas for records. At homes, he frequently serves reminders to pay rent or move out, payday loan cases and divorce papers.

Brown said a process server is more likely to get assaulted at someone’s home. He’s noticed that doctors behave professionally at their offices, but “serve a doctor at home, they’ll kick the (document), they’ll hit your car, they’ll spit on your windshield,” he said.

He said he is assaulted about every six months and also has people pull guns on him “with pretty high regularity.”

“As long as you stay calm, stay professional and use your words, so far, nobody’s dropped the hammer on me,” he said.

Brown has collected some memorable stories.

Once, he was serving a business and discovered the suite was vacant. Years later, he said, he was called to testify for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about the vacant office.

An interaction can also turn into an “impromptu counseling session,” said Brown.

Though women are often pleased to receive divorce paperwork, he once served a woman who had no idea her divorce was coming. Before his arrival, he said, she told him she had been on the phone with her husband and they had discussed plans for the following week and improving their marriage.

“She just bawled,” he said. He said he calmed her down and told her about how she could have a fresh start.

Another time, a man pulled a gun on him and said, while smiling and cocking the weapon, that he was afraid for his life, Brown recalled.

“I did a military about-face, stood right there and I said, ‘Good luck explaining this to the police’ because if he dropped the hammer on me at that point, he’d be shooting me in the back of the head,” he said. “And when he didn’t pull the trigger, I slowly walked away and dropped the (document).”

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.