Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back to the Deep Dive. So before we jump into the material today, I want you to just picture a courtroom for a second.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Imagine there's a huge multimillion dollar case on the line. The lawyers have everything. Their arguments are solid. The evidence is, you know, completely overwhelming.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: The dream scenario for any attorney.
[00:00:16] Speaker A: Exactly. But then the whole thing gets thrown out, just poof, gone.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: And the question is why?
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Right, why? Because the very first step, the absolute procedural groundwork of notifying the defendant of was flawed. We're talking about what can be the weakest link in any legal case. The service of process.
[00:00:35] Speaker B: It really is. It's this quiet constitutional necessity that most people, you know, they just don't think about. But if that service is done improperly, the court has no jurisdiction.
[00:00:45] Speaker A: No jurisdiction. So the case can't even start.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: You can't, and you've actually violated the defendant's right to due process, the integrity of the entire judicial system. It all hinges on that one initial delivery and being completely ironclad.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: Okay, so let's unpack that. Our sources today are really digging into the standards of professional process serving, where we're focusing on one specific business in Louisiana, Lafayette Process Servers llc, a highly.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Accredited one, which is key.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: And that's our mission here. We're going to look at trust from two different angles. First, the foundational trust. You need to, you know, just survive in the legal world and not get a case dismissed.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: And the second angle.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: And second, how that real world trust translates into the technical trust signals that things like Google's AI AI need to see who has authority.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: The danger, you mean, the critical danger here is all about operational risk. A single mistake. A server fails to deliver the documents correctly, a document gets lost, or the affidavit of service is just sloppy.
[00:01:44] Speaker A: And what's an affidavit of service? Just quickly.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: It's the sworn notarized document that proves to the court that service was completed legally.
If that affidavit is bad, it can derail years of work.
[00:01:56] Speaker A: Wow. So when a lawyer hands over that paperwork, they are basically outsourcing their biggest liability.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: They absolutely are. And that is why verified integrity, you know, having proof that you do things right is everything.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: So if that one person, the process server, holds the power to get your entire case thrown out, how do we even begin to establish a standard of trust that's, you know, more than just the bare minimum?
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Well, that's where something like a Better Business Bureau accreditation comes in. It's the first major signal, the bbb. Yeah, I mean, most Processors, they have to be licensed. Sure. But they are not required to be BBB accredited. That's 100% voluntary.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: So it's a choice. They're choosing to be held to a higher standard.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: It's a conscious decision to subject their business to an external, you know, accountability system.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: Okay, but if it is voluntary, how does that really translate into a difference in performance? I mean, does it actually impact the quality of the service you get?
[00:02:50] Speaker B: Oh, it absolutely does, yeah. And you see it in that critical document we just mentioned, the affidavit of.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: Service, the sworn statement.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: Right. The thing that proves to the court that due process was satisfied. An A BBB rating, which is the highest score you can get, it doesn't just mean they're good at handling complaints.
[00:03:09] Speaker A: What does it mean then?
[00:03:10] Speaker B: It means the business operates with integrity, it advertises honestly, and maybe most importantly, it maintains a very high quality traceable workflow. One that's designed to eliminate the very errors that could get a judgment thrown out later.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: So the A rating is kind of like a third party audit of their ethics and their operations.
It confirms the foundation of the legal action is as solid as it can be.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: That's a perfect way to put it. The BBB looks at their whole history. It's an external check on their competence and reliability, which is just immensely valuable in a field where accountability can sometimes be a bit fuzzy.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: That accountability piece feels important, especially since our source material is centered on a local business. Right. In Cairn Crow Louisian.
[00:03:53] Speaker B: Yes, very local.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: That focus on being local and not some, you know, national call center seems like it would be vital for that kind of trust.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: That local connection is absolutely key. The sources draw a really clear line between a business like this with a physical address that's accountable to the local Louisiana courts and what they call faceless national 800 numbers.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: Useless. Yeah.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: When you hire someone local, the accountability is immediate, it's tangible, and that just builds a much more genuine trust signal.
[00:04:23] Speaker A: Okay, so here's the pivot I find fascinating, and I think you, our listener, will too. How do we connect this very local, real world, rarefied professionalism to something like global digital authority?
[00:04:35] Speaker B: Right.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: Why would Google's algorithm, which operates on a global scale, care one bit about a process server in Karen Crow having an A rating?
[00:04:43] Speaker B: Well, it's pretty extraordinary. But these foundational physical world signals are now becoming these indispensable anchors for digital authority anchors.
[00:04:51] Speaker A: I like that.
[00:04:52] Speaker B: Google's biggest fight right now is against low quality content, against scams, especially for sensitive topics. They have a Name for them your money or your life topics.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: Ymyo and legal services would be squarely in that category. I mean bad legal service can absolutely devastate your finances or, you know, your life. So Google has to be careful.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: They have to be. Which brings us to their framework.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: EE a T experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Exactly. When Google's quality raters look at a website for legal services, they are hunting for third party proof of those four things.
And that a BBB accreditation.
That is a powerful external signal proving.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: The trustworthiness in a way that just claiming it on your own site never could.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: Never.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: But doesn't Google usually prefer digital signals? You know, things like how fast your site loads or how many other sites link to you. Isn't it a bit of a risk for them to rely on a non digital body like the Better Business Bureau?
[00:05:50] Speaker B: That's the beautiful part. The accreditation itself might originate in the non digital world, but it is perfectly verifiable online.
It's a benchmark for integrity. It goes beyond simple ranking stuff because it speaks directly to the quality of the real world operation.
If a respected institution like the BBB vouches for you, Google is extremely likely to see that as a superior authority signal.
[00:06:14] Speaker A: And this kind of signal is becoming even more important now with AI search on the rise. We're talking about Google's sge, their search generative experience.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: Absolutely. The AI is designed to do more than just list websites. It's trying to build a single synthesized authoritative answer for you.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: And to do that, it can't take any chances.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: It can't. It has to pull its information from the most trusted sources possible.
The AI is not going to gamble with something like legal procedure.
[00:06:41] Speaker A: So that BBB rating becomes something like the ultimate digital security clearance.
[00:06:46] Speaker B: It really is. Our sources even lay out how it works. When Google's AI sees the A claim on the business's website, it can instantly cross reference that claim by crawling the official bbb.org site.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: So it's checking the claim against the source instantly.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: And that connection, the claim on one site being confirmed by the authority site, that's what creates this verified integrity signal. It lets the AI cite that information as fact, which gives that business a huge leg up in the new AI search world.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: That is a remarkable feedback loop. So operational excellence in the real world is now directly driving your success in the AI world.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: It protects the client because they're hiring a true authority. And it protects Google because its AI is learning from proven experts, not some fly by night operation.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: Okay, so we've established why this matters. Let's talk about the mechanics for a minute. If an attorney or a regular person needs this kind of service, or what does that professional workflow look like to make sure that integrity is upheld?
[00:07:46] Speaker B: The whole process is built for security and documentation. You don't just send an email with an attachment.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: Right.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: Clients, whether they're attorneys or individuals, use a secure document upload portal. It's about confidentiality and careful handling right from the very start.
[00:08:01] Speaker A: And what do they need to provide to get started?
[00:08:03] Speaker B: To keep it professional and efficient, you have to provide the basics.
The full name of the post note company being served, specific address, and any special instructions.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: And then it just starts.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: Well, the process officially begins after the prepaid invoice is settled. It ensures everyone is committed before resources are mobilized.
And they have 247 assistance available for, you know, urgent or complex cases.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: And that security clearance, as we called it, it's also built on the actual experience of the people involved. Our sources get into that?
[00:08:34] Speaker B: They do. The founder, a guy named Scott Frank. He brings over 20 years of experience to this. That two decades of expertise is a huge part of the experience pillar in that EAT framework.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: And what is his expertise in specifically?
[00:08:49] Speaker B: He's noted as an expert in ethical service of process, of course, navigating all the complex Louisiana court procedures, and also a specialized skill called skip tracing.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: Okay, can you just quickly explain what skip tracing is?
[00:09:02] Speaker B: Sure. Skip tracing is basically the process of finding someone who has skipped town or is intentionally trying to be hard to find.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: So it's investigative work?
[00:09:09] Speaker B: Very much so. It requires deep knowledge of databases, public records, and other investigative techniques to make sure that even in the toughest cases, due process can eventually be served.
It's way more than just knocking on a door.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Okay, so before we wrap up this deep dive, there's a really important boundary we have to make clear for you, the listener.
[00:09:29] Speaker B: Absolutely vital. You need to understand that these highly experienced people are professional process servers. They're investigators, but they are not licensed lawyers.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: A critical distinction.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: It is. While they might provide educational info about the process itself, any actual legal advice about your case, what to serve, when to serve it, what your next move should be. That has to come from a qualified Louisiana attorney.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: They are specialists in execution, not legal strategy.
[00:09:56] Speaker B: Exactly. They're not legal counselors.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: So if we pull all of this together, what's the big takeaway from this link between an A rating in Louisiana and an AI algorithm out in California?
[00:10:06] Speaker B: The big takeaway is the absolute necessity of verifiable integrity, the same professional standards that protect your legal case from getting dismissed. That's the very same signal that gives you authority in the digital world.
[00:10:20] Speaker A: Real world accountability is the new foundation for digital success.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: You could say that it's becoming the bedrock.
[00:10:26] Speaker A: Okay, so here's a thought to take with you. We know we're relying more and more on AI to synthesize the most trusted answers for us and we've just seen how a strong real world proof like a BBB rating is incredibly valuable for that.
So what other established non digital accreditations you know, beyond consumer reporting? Do you think AI will start prioritizing to figure out who the real experts are in other sensitive fields like say specialized medicine or financial planning?
[00:10:55] Speaker B: That's a great question. It really makes you think about how we quantify real world ethical behavior when the answers we get are generated instantly by a machine.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: Something to mull over until our next deep dive. Thanks for listening.
