Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

I was recently served a law suit claim by my former landlord who is also a "legal technician". In the suit, he is claiming back rent and theft of some animals from the property. The animals, however, are owned by someone else, the very person that served me the paperwork. Therefore, directly or indirectly, my landlord is suing me on that person's behalf for that part of the suit, or so it seems to me. According to the law I read, a person who is a party to a law suit can not serve the paperwork of that lawsuit. So my question is: even if a person is not specifically named in a lawsuit, can that person still serve the paperwork even though they are an unnamed party in it, being that it was his/her property that was allegedly stolen that I am being sued over by my former landlord? And could that be grounds for a dismissal (though it may just be a technicality)?


Asked on 7/22/09, 10:45 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

This other person is not a party. That the landlord is claiming to be the owner of animals which really belong to the other person does not change this fact. It merely means the landlord's claims are false. It also means that the other person may be a witness in the case, but witnesses who are not parties are allowed to serve papers.

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Answered on 7/22/09, 10:48 pm


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