Are you sure? Google pocket filing... I'm dealing with a much more minor similar issue in my home state, and found out about that rule. Basically it means any lawyer can completely and entirely circumvent the normal court process, win a default judgment without ever filing a single paper with the court, and go directly to garnishments/levy's/etc. without a judge ever so much as looking at the complaint. I got lucky, and did some research prior to just "ignoring it until you get a summons" and it saved my ass.
Depends very much on the state.
Many states do not require you to be served (via process server) for small claims court - service by first class (not even registered) mail is perfectly acceptable. Of course, it is in a debt collectors best interest to send this summons "accidentally" to an old address/etc.
You would be surprised at what happens out there, dealing my my minor little issue opened my eyes. You can very much fight back, but you need to *actively* pursue things. Ignoring it is the worst advice anyone could possibly give, and got me into the shit I'm in currently.
I would start by looking at the statute of limitations in both the state the contract was signed, and in your state of residence. I assume the contract has a choice of law provision in it, and it is California? If so, a quick google shows a 4 year SoL on written contracts. The SoL is generally considered to start from the "date of first default" - so depending on the judge either the day you sent in your cancellation notice, the date of your last payment, or the date that they show a past-due balance. Basically the last date you were "current" on the account. If your home state has longer SoL's it may be very difficult to get the attorney suing you (if he does) to agree that the CA law takes precedence - and there it is a fight, where a decent NACA attorney would be helpful. Don't just hand it off though, do your own research and come up with your own defenses - no attorney is going to spend much time on a case that may get them $1-2k total business, they'll do standard boilerplate responses and try to settle.
Basically, it sounds like you may just be out of the SoL. In which case, I'd wait until you receive any form of summons, and also watch your local small claims and district court dockets closely so they don't ninja-file on you with sewer summons. Their entire intent is a default judgment, because once they have that the merits of your defense are irrelevant - they won. Yes, you can file for a vacation of judgment citing sewer service, but that's just another knock against you to a judge.
Basically... The original merits of whether or not you legally or ethically owe the debt are somewhat meaningless at this point. Your entire focus should simply be treating this as a debt collector coming after you for a debt. Ignoring it is horrible advice, and will look bad to a judge if it ever gets that far. If you were able to come to court with certified mail receipts, stacks of responses to the old debt collectors disputing the debt/asking for validation/etc. it looks like you were trying to resolve it and the debt collectors were unwilling.
So.. You have defenses, but you are likely well beyond the point where you can make this simply "go away" by doing simple letter writing/phone calls. If it is indeed a real attorney, and he is indeed "trying to serve you" as you stated, expect to have to bring it to conclusion soon. The fact that it's right around where I would peg the SoL to be makes me think they may actually file, in order to beat it.
Either way.. good luck!
As for the contract itself.. You signed a year long contract in October 2004, and canceled in November 2004? If so, I can't see many judges not upholding the payment of the remainder of the contract out. If you meant you signed in October 2003, and canceled in November 2004, then what they did is absolutely beyond shady. Auto-renewal w/ defined cancellation notices have their place - this is not one of them.
Hope it helps
-Phil