Service of Process by E-Mail on a Foreign Defendant

In a case that was heard in the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, Judge Jeffrey S. White ordered the following:

"Although the Court does not find that the service already effectuated by Plaintiffs was improper, in an abundance of caution and considering that the WikiLeaks Defendants may be foreign  parties, the Court ORDERS Plaintiffs to re-serve the amended complaint and summons and all TRO-related papers, including this Order, on the WikiLeaks Defendants at their listed email addresses by no later than 3:00 p.m., today, February 13, 2008."

This is an example that the world we live in is getting smaller or perhaps more local.  This is in large part thanks to the power of the internet and its ability to bring things that were once far away or difficult to gain access to directly to our desktops.

The power of the internet and the technology that enables it is making easier  to communicate in ways that were not even contemplated just a few short years ago.   This power to communicate is spilling over into the world of litigation and more specifically the act of giving notice to a party of a pending action or Service of Process.  

This blog has in part called to your attention numerous examples of courts worldwide that have come to recognize that sometimes the most effective manner for providing legal notice of a pending action is by electronic means.  In the past the only alternative for effecting service on a party that could not be located was publication. Now we are seeing service by Twitter, Facebook, and email more and more frequently.  

Is this a much ado about nothing as some in positions of power in the process serving community have suggested or is this yet another example of trend that seems to be gaining momentum?  

You be the judge. 

District of Court Permits International Service of Process via Email

MR Printing Equipment, Inc. and MR Sales and Service, Inc

-v-

Dietmar Potscher

Case Number: 10cv00937

Filed: February 10, 2010

Court: Illinois Northern District Court

U.S. District Judge John W. Darrah permitted Plaintiff, MR Printing Equipment, Inc., to serve a complaint and summons on Austrian defendant, by e-mail. This is yet another example of a continuing trend in federal litigation in the US and courts globally.

The case, MR Printing Equipment, Inc. v. Potscher, is pending in the United States District Court

in Illinois. Upon motion of the MR Printing the court permitted the defendant, to be served via e-mail under Rule 4(f)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The fact that the defendant resides in Austria which is not a signatory to the Hague Convention and the permissive language of the Federal Rules related to the service of process, allowed the Judge to permit international Service of Process via email.

Below is the Judges Minute Order on the Plaintiff's Motion to allow International Service via email and the Proof of Service filed in the case indicating the manner of service.