Mighty Mike: What's up Server Nation? My name is Michael Reid, the podcast server. You are listening to Process Server Daily. On this podcast, we interview the top legal support professionals and get the tips, tools, and tactics that they use to get the job done and build a successful company. I'm a big fan of storytelling and I'm excited about today's guest.

Mighty Mike: Before we get started, let's give a big shout out to my new sponsor, Server Manager. We have a special gift for all of my listeners at the end of today's episode.

Mighty Mike: Okay, Server Nation. We are joined here by the owner of Love to Serve Them, LLC. He has 20 years of experience serving papers both privately and for Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He has covered Los Angeles County and surrounding counties in Southern California since March of 2012. Dave Luce, welcome to the show.

Dave Luce: Thanks Mike, glad to be here.

Mighty Mike: Awesome, Dave. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in the industry?

Dave Luce: Well, I started serving papers in 1996. What had happened is the company I was working for ... The Northridge Earthquake happened and basically imploded the owner's house. So that business went away. And I was in the bar one night talking to one of my high school friends who had an attorney service. He was like, "Why don't you go come work for me for a while?" I was like, "Yeah, I'm not doing anything else right now."

Dave Luce: And within a couple of months I started noticing that these attorneys were asking, "Hey, we want this Dave guy to go serve it." And probably about six months later, that business went belly-up. So I'm like, "Well hey, I'll just go get the license and bond." And then I went back to all these attorneys and was like, "Hey, I'm in business for me now. I just do the process service. Let the attorney service do your other stuff." So I already had a built-in clientele.

Mighty Mike: That's awesome, Dave. Do you have a family?

Dave Luce: Yeah, I have a family. One daughter. Was a single parent for her. We moved back in with my mom a couple years ago to help take care of her. She's 83 now.

Mighty Mike: That's really cool, yeah. Family's really important. How old's your daughter?

Dave Luce: She's 21.

Mighty Mike: Whoa, that's cool. Adult kids. I look forward to that day.

Dave Luce: Cherish the time now.

Mighty Mike: That's what I hear. So, Dave, there's a reason why you're on the show. You have a lot going on. You're ... I watch you on Facebook and the different things, hearing your posts about the different awards that you've won and things like that. So I'm really excited to hear your story. Lots of good stories, I'm sure, that you have. But we always start here at Process Server Daily, we start with your worst experience working in the field. Tell us a little bit about that.

Dave Luce: My worst experience definitely has to be with the Sheriff's Department. In 2003, I was serving a criminal subpoena on a lady for probably the 300th time in three years, and she sicked her 70-pound Chow on me. And I ended up putting two fractures in an ankle, 20 fractures in my knee, unit broke my wrist and got a nerve disease that spread body-wide from there. They were going after her for 8-10 for assault with intent, and she pled out to a year and a half in the state. But that's gotta definitely be my absolute worst because that ended that career. I was not able ... Because I had nerve disease, I could not return to active duty.

Mighty Mike: Oh my gosh. And that was while you were with the Sheriff's Department?

Dave Luce: Yes.

Mighty Mike: Oh man. So it was a Chow Chow, the black ones with the purple tongue?

Dave Luce: Yeah, yeah. I was about halfway back to my unit and I heard her open the door and was like, "Sick him." I used to carry a little micro cassette recorder in my pocket, because people would call in and say I said a derogatory name or whatever. And even though it's a he said-she said, something will go on my file. So I'm like, "Oh, no, no, no, no. This ain't happening." So I turn that on, radio in, and then continue on serving case number so-and-so on such-and-such and let it run. And then when I would get one of these complaints, I'd play that tape for my sergeant and my lieutenant. There's my proof that none of this happened, so nothing goes into my file. It's not for legal reasons, it's more just to CYA for me.

Mighty Mike: Yeah, no. That's smart.

Dave Luce: And you hear all of that on that tape.

Mighty Mike: Yeah, that's smart. So you were able to hear the, "Sick him?"

Dave Luce: Oh yeah.

Mighty Mike: Okay.

Dave Luce: And the funny thing is, is she came out and she's laughing because I couldn't get up off the ground. I couldn't even reach the microphone on my shoulder. I just had to hit the red button, what we call the EPIRB button, which as far as the department's concerned, I've just been shot. And you hear her laughing and then all of a sudden you hear her stop and literally every point on the compass sirens are screaming in. I'm right on the border of Altadena, so I've got Altadena sheriffs coming, Pasadena PD coming, fire, ambulance, helicopter.

Mighty Mike: Wow.

Dave Luce: Yeah.

Mighty Mike: Oh, man. And now, did you already tell me? Did she do jail time?

Dave Luce: She pled out to a year and a half. So I was like, "Welcome to the family." That's why I served her so many times. She wasn't a criminal, but her all her family and relatives were. And in LA County, only the Sheriffs can serve criminal subpoenas from the DAs and public defenders. And so at least once a week for three years, sometimes two or three times a week, just where she lived, I'd be banging on her door about 10 after five in the morning with one of these subpoenas. And she just went crazy that morning.

Mighty Mike: I can't tell you how many times I've interviewed people and the response I got was, "You know, I served her a bunch of times," or, "I served him a bunch of times and I thought, it's gonna be fine. It's been fine every time before. And then this one time."

Mighty Mike: And I gotta tell you, dogs are my biggest concern when I'm out serving. I carry a little taser. I don't carry it as much anymore. Maybe just I think I can handle myself more by having a gun and things, but I try not to ... I really don't carry very often. And as far as tasers go, have you ever carried a taser, Dave?

Dave Luce: No. No. When needed I'll take a weapon with me, or I have body armor. I'll wear my body armor. But for the most part I just try to keep very low-key. And I've gotta say, I've had way more problems serving for the Sheriff's Department than I've ever had serving privately.

Mighty Mike: So what I take privately from your story Dave, for the most part, is to CYA. Having that recorder on you allowed you to be able to prove that she wanted her dog to do that. In some circumstances, the dog could have bit you and she could have gotten in no trouble at all. The dog broke out of the gate, or whatever, depending on what her defense might be, so that was a really good thing. So this was an audio recorder, or a video recorder?

Dave Luce: No, no, an audio. It's one of those little tiny cassette recorders where the cassette is maybe an inch. Totally old school. This 2003 when this happened, but I started doing it in 2001.

Mighty Mike: Oh, okay.

Dave Luce: Well no, 2000, because I started with the Sheriff's Department in 2000.

Mighty Mike: But that's the technology that they had at that time and you guys were utilizing it, luckily, so that's a great story. What do you want Server Nation to get from your story?

Dave Luce: Well for me, I think the best thing for any process server is to have total situational awareness. Be aware of what's going on around you, what's going on in front of you and what's going on behind you. Because I have some areas that I go into, covering all of Los Angeles County, that are really nasty areas. I've served down in Watts and Compton. I've never even felt fearful down there.

Mighty Mike: Wow. Either that's because it's not as bad as they say or you're just a bad mamma jamma...

Dave Luce: It can be as bad as they say, but like I said, I keep situational awareness. I see what's going on when I first pull up in front of the property. And if there's stuff going on that I don't feel safe doing it, I'll call for backup. I'll call LAPD or I'll call the local PD and say, "Hey, I'm a registered process server. I'm here to serve eviction papers. I just need some backup to keep the peace." And they respond.

Mighty Mike: I was gonna say, do they ... Because in a lot of counties they're like, "Well, we'll see if we can send someone out." And you're there for an hour. Almost doesn't make sense to even sit around, because sometimes you wonder if they're even gonna show. So they were pretty supportive down there?

Dave Luce: Yeah, they're very supportive. And you just tell them not, "I'm just here to serve this." It's, "I'm registered LA County." I give them my number. "And I'm here to serve such and such. This is what's going on. I just need some backup." Or, if I show up at say a private community, which as you know here in California, they have to allow us access when there's a guard at the gate. There have been some times where the guard doesn't want to let me in, and it's like, "Here's the deal. Either you let me in or I'm gonna call the PD. One, you're required by state law, and two, you could end up getting arrested for obstruction."

Dave Luce: And every now and then they'll be like, "Yeah. No, go ahead and call." I had one, it was hilarious. I waited probably an hour, hour and a half for them to come. It was right u