MWpro - 4:44 pm on Dec 17, 2008 (gmt 0)

Service in the U.S. must be reasonably calculated under all the circumstances.

What does this mean? That email and facebook and what not can only be used as a last resort. A court will not allow an email when the plaintiff could have easily sent a snail mail or made a phone call.

But if email is the only way to serve, it might very well be reasonably calculated under all the circumstances.

Moncao, in the U.S. it may not matter if you know whether the defendant has actually read the email as long as it is reasonably calculated. Say for example, the defendant runs an internet website as his job. On the website is listed an email. It is reasonable to expect that since he runs this website and does business through email, then he will get this email.

What about facebook? Well, if after all the efforts they cannot find a way to contact the defendant, and then can find him on facebook with absolute certainty (information in the profile may verify it is the actual person), then that may very well be reasonably calculated. Would you have to prove they actually read it? No, not if they use facebook a lot, have recently made updates to their profile (especially after receiving service of process), etc. Facebook itself may be able to help and give the time of the last known activity of the defendant on facebook. Someone who rarely uses facebook, however, would presumably be less convincing to the courts.