One of the important steps in suing someone is serving them with the various court papers required, especially the complaint which starts the suit. Ten years ago today, I ran this post titled At Your Service.

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A defendant must be served for a lawsuit to go forward against him. So far, Brett Kimberlin has been able to serve two of the defendants in his Kimberlin v. Walker et al. boondoggle in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland. Aaron Walker and I have been served. The other three defendants have not.

Apparently, Kimberlin does not know where Stacy McCain and Ali Akbar live. I don’t either, at least, not exactly. I know generally where they live, but not their street addresses. Neither lives in Maryland. They aren’t hiding, but they have no obligation to make it easy for Kimberlin to serve them.

Of course, Kimberlin Unmasked hasn’t been served. Brett Kimberlin doesn’t know the identity of that anonymous blogger. Neither do I

I have been served, and as a Maryland resident my responses to the suit are due on a tighter schedule than the out-of-state defendants. That work is in process, and I intend to respond to the suit in a timely manner. Ken White has put up the Popehat Signal; I expect that will generate a great deal of interest in the case.

@BretbartUnmasked tweeted at me today that I should offer to settle the case out of court. I responded with an offer to drop the matter if Brett Kimberlin were to pay me a settlement of $1,000,000. That was not a facetious offer. If Kimberlin wants to get off on the cheap, he should take it.

UPDATE—I’ve been doing a bit of fact checking. Under Maryland Rule 2-121, service of process may be accomplished by “certified mail requesting: ‘Restricted Delivery—show to whom, date, address of delivery.'” The package sent to Stacy McCain was not mailed to his correct address, nor was it signed for by him. It is my understanding that service was not complete given those facts.

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Kimberlin could have made is life much easier if he’s accepted my settlement offer. I’m not done with him yet.