Why Traditional Service by Publication Has Become Obsolete
For decades local newspapers were utilized to serve legal notices on parties who could not be located. In the classified section on the last pages of the newspaper were small paragraphs with information about a particular legal case. The notices were signed by a judge who agreed, based on the evidence, that a defendant could not be personally served.
As readership in traditional print newspapers dwindled over the years, it became more obvious that such publication did not adequately provide a method of giving “actual notice” to a defendant.
U.S. print newspaper circulation has dropped by roughly 70% since 2005, losing an estimated 80
million in total circulation as readers shift to digital formats. Twenty years ago, about 37 million people lived in counties with limited or no local news; by 2025, this number increased to 88 million.1 The number of U.S. newspapers dropped from over 8,800 in 2005 to roughly 4,300 today, a loss of more than 50%.2 It should be no surprise that traditional newspapers have placed an emphasis on their online versions to offset the loss in readership.
How did this decline affect service by publication in traditional newspapers? The obvious answer is that the odds of a defendant reading about a legal case being filed against them have diminished.
Courts routinely required publishing a summons or notice in a print newspaper of general circulation strictly in the last known local area where the defendant resided.3 That practice was the result of civil codes which allowed for publication of legal notices when a defendant could not be located.4
Today, people are curious about what is on the Internet about themselves and often Google their own name to see what might exist on the Internet. If a court approved service by online publication and it was done correctly, a Google search should reveal that a case exists and is available online.5
Judges have the discretion of approving a request for order for service by online publication and that method is increasingly common.6
Modern online publication platforms often exceed these statutory thresholds to withstand due
diligence challenges. For example, platforms like Global Legal Notices host and display the court
notice for 3 consecutive months, simultaneously publishing the entire court file rather than just a brief text abstract as is the case with traditional print newspapers.7
Service by publication is not obsolete; rather, it is changing with the times.
Nelson Tucker is the Founder of Process Service Network LLC, Global Legal Notices, and CalPublications.com with offices in Valencia, CA and Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of “Modern Methods of Process Serving” and over 60 published articles on service of process and investigation issues. His email is nelson@processnet1.com.
1 LinkedIn
2 Pew Research Center
3 Santa Monica Daily Press
4 C.C.P. 415.50
5 https://GlobalLegalNotices.com
6 Mullane v. Central Hanover Trust & Bank Co., 22 ILL.339, U.S. 306, 70 S.Ct.652, 94 L. Ed 865
7 https://globallegalnotices.com/faqs
