Litigation is a bit like football– the helmet & pads version we play here in North America, not the one where the use of hands is forbidden (seriously, guys?).
Much of the academic side of the game is in strategy, thinking fifteen minutes down the road, managing the clock, keeping your QB protected and your linemen well-rested. But sometimes, there’s just no strategy possible, like when three seconds are on the clock, it’s 4th and goal, and you’re down by 5. There’s precisely one acceptable move, and that’s simply to go for the end zone. There’s a whole lot of comfort in that. Even though it might seem like a daunting situation, all you can do is just execute.
In much of what I do, there’s simply no strategizing possible. There’s precisely one acceptable move, and that’s a Request pursuant to Article 5 of the 1965 Hague Service Convention. Many HSC member-states are what I like to call “Five-O countries” because they object to Article 10 alternative methods, so you’re left with Article Five Only. There’s a whole lot of comfort in that. Even though it might seem like a daunting situation, all you can do is just execute.
The most common 5-0 countries:
Now, to be sure, all of them except India require you to translate your documents, regardless of the defendant’s competence in English (seriously– it’s not about the defendant), so the situation is not all peaches and cream. The only thing you can control, really, is the length of your pleadings, and even that may not be easily controlled. If you’re serving in one of the first three countries on that list, you’re usually looking at a year or more before proof comes back… no peaches or cream.
But when it comes to deciding how to go about serving a defendant, the only decision to be made is whether to serve at all. How to go about the procedure is exceedingly straightforward, because the decision has already been made for you.
Sort of like that 4th and goal play. All you can do is just execute.