Service of Process

Under 9 USC 9, a notice of motion to confirm an arbitration award may be served on a party resident in the forum district by the means used to serve an ordinary motion.  If the party is not a resident of the forum district, service must be by the marshall of the district in which the party resides, in the… Read More

Under CCP 414.10, anyone who is over 18 years old may serve a summons and complaint--except for a party.  Here, plaintiff's service of the summons and complaint on the defendant was insufficient to give the court jurisdiction over the defendant.  Hence, the ensuing default judgment agains the defendant was properly set aside under CCP 473(d) as void on its face. … Read More

Plaintiff secured a default judgment against defendant in 2008 based a proof of service showing service on him personally at a specified address.  In 2018, plaintiff moved to renew the judgment and served notice of the motion on plaintiff by mail.  Defendant first moved to set aside the renewed judgment submitting a declaration conceding that he had received notice of… Read More

In a quiet title action, if summons is served by publication, the published notice must describe the property at issue, giving either or both of its street address or legal description.  (CCP 763.,020.)  Here, the published notice gave only the assessor's parcel number.  As the notice did not comply with the statute, it was insufficient; so the default of the… Read More

The trial court retains jurisdiction to consider and approve a final report by a receiver appointed to remediate a nuisance caused by a substandard building is appointed under both H&S Code 17980.7 even after the plaintiff governmental entity dismisses the action.  The receiver's final report and motion for its approval must be served on all persons with an interest in… Read More

In a personal injury action, a plaintiff must, before entry of a default serve the defendant with a statement of damages by the same means as the plaintiff served the summons and complaint.  Here, service by publication had been authorized.  Plaintiff could and did properly serve the statement of damages by publication without an additional order permitting service of the… Read More

After serving a defendant by publication, the plaintiff may obtain entry of the defendant's default if the defendant does not file an answer, a motion to transfer, a motion to quash service of summons, a motion to strike or a demurrer within the time for filing an answer.  (CCP 585(c).)  Here, within the time for answering, defendant filed a motion… Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in permitting service by publication.  Substantial evidence supported its finding that plaintiff had made diligent efforts to locate Singh and serve him by other means.  He had tried service by mail, but received no signed receipt.  He tried substituted service at Singh's purported place of business but found no one present with… Read More

Plaintiff sought to serve her petition for issuance of a Civil Harrassment injunction on the defendant by social media since she had been unable to serve him by normal means of service of process.  Though it notes that some states (New York, New Jersey and Texas) have allowed service of process by social media, this decision holds that at least… Read More

In computing the three-year time within which summons and complaint must be served, CCP 583.240(b) excludes any time in which the prosecution of the action or proceedings in the action was stayed and the stay affected service.  This case holds that if litigation between plaintiff and defendant 1 is stayed (as it was here while those parties engaged in a… Read More

Plaintiff obtained a court order permitting service of process by publication and specifying that the complaint and summons be published in the Orange County Register, but instead of complying, plaintiff published them in a smaller newspaper of general circulation owned by one of the OCR’s subsidiaries, which resulted in ineffective service. Read More

Mail service on a Chinese defendant was ineffective, even though it had agreed to such service because China has opted out of the Hague Convention’s article allowing service by mail. Read More

A trial court erred in denying plaintiff enforcement of its $11 million judgment against defendant obtained in a court in Moscow, Russia, since defendant failed to establish any valid defense under the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgment Recognition Act and official court documents adequately proved sufficient service of process on defendant’s registered Moscow address. Read More

International service of process by Federal Express and e-mail fails for lack of an acknowledgment of receipt; Doe defendants not served within three years must be dismissed. Read More

The automatic stay in bankruptcy does not extend the three-year deadline for serving process on a co-defendant of the bankrupt debtor, that is not itself in bankruptcy. Read More

Complaint and summons may be served by mail on a defendant in a foreign country so long as authorized by the forum jurisdiction’s laws and not objected to by the foreign country.  Read More

Trial court erred in allowing suspended (and eventually dissolved) corporation relief from default judgment, since its agent for service of process was served, thus giving it actual knowledge of the suit.  Read More

Service of summons and complaint on defendant was considered adequate when his father accepted substituted service at home, defendant could not establish that he had a permanent residence elsewhere, and his father gave him actual notice of the suit within three days of the substituted service.  Read More