It is very easy to avoid service on lawsuits, and delay civil suits for a very long time. And you don't need a lawyer at all. First, just don't open the door when they try and serve you. After 2-3 tries the party will just mail it and say they served you. But then track the case on the internet and wait until they get a Default Judgment (at least one year). Then you can (for around $25) file a Motion to Vacate Judgment, stating that you were never served. These are vacated by the courts in 99% of cases. Then you can delay via Adjournments almost indefinitely. When you finally have to answer, file an Answer denying everything, and you can then hold up the process via Motions of Appearance, etc. All told it is very easy to hold up most civil lawsuits for 2-5 years without even consulting an attorney (although you can get a lot of great advice from attorneys in free phone consultations under the guise that you want to retain them). They may finally get a judgment, but the long time delay gives you plenty of time to move your assets around in order to make any final Judgments all but uncollectable (also almost every state has Homestead exemptions protecting your home up to $50,000 or unlimited in the case of Florida and Texas.)
"It is very easy to avoid service on lawsuits...just don't open the door..."
My wife and I are part-time process servers for a number of area attorneys and I've seen people walking around inside their houses simply refusing to come to the door. Not much you can do. I try to catch them while they're out working in the yard. As long as you can speak to them, if they refuse to take the papers from you, you can simply drop them at their feet and it is considered a lawful service. Also, if you can get one of the kids to accept them (if they're over twelve), that's also a lawful service, at least here in Washington.
Interesting.