Our Pleasure to Serve You: More Lawyers Look to Social Networking Sites to Notify Defendants

http://ow.ly/6HeHg

An article by Stephanie Francis Ward published by the ABA Journal.

This article discusses some instances in which service of process was permitted through the use of email, or via social media networks.  This is certainly an interesting use of technology.

The article states, "

While courts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom embrace electronic legal notice, it’s rare in the United States. Many state and federal statutes disallow electronic service of process, lawyers say.
In federal cases, some attorneys cite Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f)(3), which allows service only for foreign defendants “by other means not prohibited by international agreement, as the court orders.”"

The author goes on to state, "In a 2002 case, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco upheld a default judgment against Rio International Interlink, a Costa Rican gambling website that was served electronically after traditional methods failed. The trademark infringement action was brought by Rio Properties Inc., a Las Vegas hotel and casino.

The defendant, wrote Judge Stephen S. Trott, “had neither an office nor a door; it had only a computer terminal. ... When faced with an international e-business scofflaw playing hide-and-seek with the federal court, email may be the only means of effecting service of process.”"

The article offers opinions from various counsel regarding this development, and whether or not it makes sense.  One comment provided in the article is as follows: "Adam C. Losey would like to see courts take that a step further, and in 2009 he co-wrote a Federal Courts Law Review article advocating domestic electronic service of process.

“You would be surprised at how many people evade service but update their Facebook profile on a near daily basis,” says Losey, a Foley & Lardner associate who practices out of Orlando, Fla., and New York City.

“A lot of the way the law works in giving notice to parties is just tethered to antiquated ways of communication that no one uses anymore,” says Losey, who wrote the article with retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald J. Hedges and lawyer Kenneth N. Rashbaum of New York City’s Rashbaum Associates."

P.S.  What do you think?  Should someone be allowed to serve legal papers via Facebook?