Between managing people, processes, and projects, compliance professionals are often left with little time when selecting registered agents, but it’s actually quite an important process—much more than simply checking a box.
What could happen if your company selects the wrong registered agent in one of the jurisdictions it operates in?
- Vital notices from state agencies on requirements needed to maintain good standing could go astray.
- Subpoenas or legal complaints could be slow in reaching your counsel, so then your company must rush to respond—or even misses deadlines, losing crucial legal rights.
- Your company’s filings could be late, jeopardizing your ability to operate, because your agent doesn’t keep you informed of state agencies’ processing delays or added procedures.
Multiply those problems by the number of states in which you must designate an agent to serve as your legal presence, and ask yourself—have we paid enough attention to selecting the right registered agents?
Why just “checking the box” is the wrong approach
Compliance professionals often find their time stretched thin as they juggle the demands of managing people, processes, and projects. Consequently, tasks such as selecting and vetting registered agents, despite their significant impact on a company’s operations, are often deprioritized. As a result, many companies accumulate a network of agents over time as they expand, without ensuring they’re well-suited to the company’s current needs. Ideally, agents across different jurisdictions should operate in a coordinated manner, optimizing efficiency and contributing to the company’s overall success.
At CSC, not only do we believe you should expect more, we know you can have more from your registered agent.
Setting higher expectations for registered agent services
To ensure that the vital services you need are delivered to best effect, your registered agents should be:
- Consistent: You may have scores of entities operating in dozens of states. A patchwork web of registered agents could mean dealing with different processes, different levels of service—and confusion on responsibilities. One seamless network of agents can deliver a higher level of service.
- Prompt: Legal documents often have short fuses—miss a deadline and you might lose the right to respond. The best registered agents scan and deliver your documents right when they’re received.
- Integrated into your workflows: Where documents are delivered can be just as important as when, because documents that go astray can cause massive confusion and delays. Your registered agent should understand your legal workflows and place your documents exactly where you want them, based on your service of process (SOP) instructions.
- Secure: Your documents are sensitive and irreplaceable. The best registered agents maintain archives that let you search and retrieve all the vital records on your state status and litigation. And they meet strict security standards to ensure those archives are not subject to misuse.
- Informed: Filing standards and processing times change from state to state—and from time to time within states. You want a registered agent who’s always up to date, and keeping you up to date, on the latest developments.
- Service oriented: When there’s a problem locating a document or tracking a filing, you want an agent committed to the highest levels of service to solve that issue swiftly.
A single source of truth
In essence, you need a reliable, centralized resource for managing the critical business and legal documents that safeguard your company’s standing and ensure compliance with legal requirements. This is precisely what CSC offers. With 125 years of experience and a presence in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and over 140 jurisdictions worldwide, we deliver seamless, coordinated support wherever your business operates.
Our document-handling systems are robust, secure, and integrated into your legal workflows, so documents arrive where they’re needed, when they’re needed. And our experienced agents know the timelines and processing distinctions of each jurisdiction where they operate, to ensure your filings are properly handled and timely.
How CSC can help
Is it time to evaluate your services? If so, find out more about CSC’s Registered Agent and Service of Process services. Please contact CSC if you are interested in higher level of service, certainty, and security.
