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A sailor unloads the mail, Yokosuka, Japan, 2006. (U.S. Navy photo.)

In order for the Hague Service Convention (HSC) to govern the legal formalities of notifying defendants of claims against them, you’ve got to know where the defendant can be found.  An address is critical to service anywhere, on any defendant, but it can be particularly challenging when it comes to serving U.S. servicemembers stationed abroad– as well as when it comes to serving their dependents* or civilian support staff stationed with them.  It’s especially daunting when those folks live on a U.S. military installation in Germany or Italy or Japan or… any number of other far-flung locales. 
Continue Reading Hague addresses: APO and FPO don’t qualify.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill announcing the surrender of German forces, May 8, 1945. Imperial War Museum photo.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces the surrender of German forces on the BBC, May 8, 1945. Imperial War Museum photo.

Very few of us alive today remember the elation of May 8, 1945.  My parents weren’t even born yet, and my grandparents are no longer alive to tell the story.  But…

This morning marks the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into the First World War, and the center of the commemorations is my adopted hometown, Kansas City, Missouri.  After the war, Kansas City was the first community to build a memorial to her fallen sons– indeed the fallen sons of all communities thrust into…

[Originally published at vikinglaw.us]

Your client is a G.I.— a grunt, a leatherneck, a swabbie, or a flyboy.  While he was stationed overseas, he met a girl who he thought was the love of his life.  After a whirlwind romance, they got married, and she followed him stateside.

Eventually, things went south.  For whatever…

[Originally published at vikinglaw.us]

A particular quirk arises in serving a defendant if he or she is a U.S. servicemember stationed abroad.  For the most part, I explain to clients that such an objective is a tough one, so they might have to simply wait until the defendant returns to the United States.   [This…