Legal Commentary

Using Facebook to Serve Legal Documents

By TChris

The legal documents that start a lawsuit usually must be served in person upon the defendant to assure that the defendant has notice of the suit. Some jurisdictions permit service by mail if the recipient acknowledges service, with personal service required as an alternative if no acknowledgment of the mailing is obtained. When a defendant can't be located, service is sometimes allowed by publication in a newspaper or by affixing the document to the defendant's front door.

Australia has added an interesting wrinkle (a glimpse of the future, perhaps?) by permitting service via Facebook.

In what may be a world first, lawyers from Canberra law firm Meyer Vandenberg persuaded a judge in the Australian Capital Territory's Supreme Court to allow them to serve the [mortgage default] documents over the internet after repeatedly failing to serve the papers in person. Lawyer Mark McCormack came up with the Facebook plan after it became clear that the couple did not want to be found.

What's next? Service via TalkLeft comments?

Full post as published by TalkLeft on December 16, 2008 (boomark / email).