Legal Research

An Australian Couple Got Served Papers. Thankfully All I Got Was A Lousy Cowbell.

When my daughter found out I had a Facebook profile, she said hello by sending me a cowbell.  (Cute … but useless.)  Then she friended me.  (Awwwwww.)

Anyway, last week an Australian couple in default on a home loan were served a default judgement via Facebook after attempts to reach them at their home, and via email, failed.  Mark McCormack of the firm Meyer Vandenberg Lawyers noticed that the husband and wife each had a Facebook profile.  He convinced the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court that he’d found the right people — their profiles included their full names, complete birthdates, and email addresses.  They’d also friended each other.  He was allowed to serve them via Facebook under the condition that he also send the papers to their home as well as to their email addresses.

Meyer Vandenberg notes that this “appears to be the first in Australia and potentially the world”:

“Courts have previously allowed default judgements to be delivered by email and text message but it is a first for Facebook.  Archie Tsirimokos, Managing Partner of Meyer Vandenberg says it was only a matter of time before Facebook became a method of communicating with defendants.  Facebook has become an extension of peoples identity. These young lawyers are to be commended for their innovation.”

“Facebook has become an extension of peoples identity.”  Oh, please … don’t get me started again.

Thanks, Kenneth.

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