I've heard some funny stories from any number of process servers over the years ... anyhoooo ... this is yet ANOTHER reason why Facebook is not your friend ...
Gotta give'em props for ingenuity though ...
Using Facebook to Serve Papers
Using Facebook to serve legal papers
In other countries, courts are becoming more accepting about using Facebook to send notices to people who can't otherwise be found.
By Kim Peterson on Tue, Jun 7, 2011 3:19 PM
You can find out a lot about perfect strangers on Facebook. And some lawyers and courts are starting to take advantage of that.
Legal cases grind to a halt when people can't be found to get served with court notices, Bloomberg reports. But sometimes when they can't be found in person, they can be tracked down on Facebook.
Courts in New Zealand, Canada and other countries are becoming increasingly comfortable with serving papers over Facebook. In Australia, one lawyer used the website to serve a foreclosure notice to one couple who defaulted on their loan. So far, we haven't seen Facebook used to serve papers in the U.S.
Lawyers get creative when it comes to tracking down people to receive documents. They send mail, try to call and fax and even show up in person. All of that failed one lawyer in England earlier this year, and so a British court let her serve papers to a woman through Facebook.
The woman responded in a matter of minutes, the lawyer told Bloomberg.
There are all kinds of sticky issues that could arise here. Is the Facebook user truly the person the lawyers want? What about the ethical issues that come with trying to talk to someone over Facebook?
"As far as the law is concerned, it's just a method of delivery," one technology-law specialist told Bloomberg. "The precise form of technology is neither here nor there."
Gotta give'em props for ingenuity though ...
Using Facebook to Serve Papers
Using Facebook to serve legal papers
In other countries, courts are becoming more accepting about using Facebook to send notices to people who can't otherwise be found.
By Kim Peterson on Tue, Jun 7, 2011 3:19 PM
You can find out a lot about perfect strangers on Facebook. And some lawyers and courts are starting to take advantage of that.
Legal cases grind to a halt when people can't be found to get served with court notices, Bloomberg reports. But sometimes when they can't be found in person, they can be tracked down on Facebook.
Courts in New Zealand, Canada and other countries are becoming increasingly comfortable with serving papers over Facebook. In Australia, one lawyer used the website to serve a foreclosure notice to one couple who defaulted on their loan. So far, we haven't seen Facebook used to serve papers in the U.S.
Lawyers get creative when it comes to tracking down people to receive documents. They send mail, try to call and fax and even show up in person. All of that failed one lawyer in England earlier this year, and so a British court let her serve papers to a woman through Facebook.
The woman responded in a matter of minutes, the lawyer told Bloomberg.
There are all kinds of sticky issues that could arise here. Is the Facebook user truly the person the lawyers want? What about the ethical issues that come with trying to talk to someone over Facebook?
"As far as the law is concerned, it's just a method of delivery," one technology-law specialist told Bloomberg. "The precise form of technology is neither here nor there."
