Lawyers are nothing if not extremely picky about linguistic precision, and it makes us look like jerks.  I am no different.

This is a huge issue in my marriage, as my wife will attest.  Non-lawyers are driven bonkers when their lawyer spouses utter the words “define __________.”  This may be why lawyers are so insistent

[Author’s note:  this series distills the Convention as it applies to practitioners in the United States—it is not a definitive analysis of the treaty in a broader sense.  Call it a primer, if you will.  Parts One and Two focus on the treaty’s main operative articles, Part Three provides background, and Part Four, which follows

[Author’s note:  this series distills the Hague Service Convention as it applies to practitioners in the United States—it is not a definitive analysis of the treaty in a broader sense.Parts One and Two focus on the treaty’s main operative articles, Part Three, which follows here, provides a good bit of background, and Part Four delves

[Author’s note:  this series distills the Hague Service Convention as it applies to practitioners in the United States—it is not a definitive analysis of the treaty in a broader sense.  Parts One and Two focus on the treaty’s main operative articles, Part Three provides a bit of background, and Part Four delves into articles that

[Author’s note:  this series distills the Hague Service Convention as it applies to practitioners in the United States—it is not a definitive analysis of the treaty in a broader sense.  Parts One and Two focus on the treaty’s main operative articles, Part Three provides pertinent background, and Part Four delves into articles that, while important

At first glance, simply mailing a summons & complaint is the easiest, most hassle-free way of serving a defendant located abroad.  Looks can be (and in the Hague Service world, usually are) deceiving.  Unless you have no other recourse, it’s an awfully bad idea to use such a simplistic method to serve.

Keep proof in

Over the years, I’ve repeatedly had lawyer clients say to me, “I have to serve a defendant in (Country X), but I don’t want to do it through the Hague.  That’s just too much hassle.”

Ahem, sorry, I say to them.  You don’t have a choice in the matter.  But that doesn’t necessarily mean

[Although we’ve seen a couple of hopeful glimmers lately, I still recommend that my clients expect a full two years before receipt of proof, and even that might be optimistic.  The New York Times reports that Indian courts have a backlog of 50 million criminal and civil cases, positing that clearing the backlog will take

[Originally published at vikinglaw.us.  An update on service in Korea generally can be found here.]

They literally catch fire.  Literally.  Not in a “using the word ‘literally’ to make a hyperbolic argument sound stronger than it is” sense.  The things emit flame, without warning and seemingly without reason.  The Samsung Galaxy Note