Chung v. Chung Peng Chih-Mei

Background

Elizabeth Y. Chung sued Chung Peng Chih-Mei and Intertrust (Bahamas) Limited. Chung Peng Chih-Mei resides in Taiwan. Chung alleges that her estranged husband, David Chung, placed assets belonging to him and/or Chung into offshore trusts or entities under Chung Peng Chih-Mei’s name to avoid tax liability in the United States. Chung seeks a ruling that Chung Peng Chih-Mei never owned or had rights in the identified assets.

The motion addressed service of the lawsuit on Chung Peng Chih-Mei. A service package containing the summons and complaint was delivered to a doorman at the identified address in Taiwan, and the doorman confirmed that Chung Peng Chih-Mei was listed as a resident. A follow-up mailing was returned with a claim that she did not reside there. Chung also had not responded.

Legal standards

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f) governs service on an individual outside the United States. Under Rule 4(f)(3), a court may authorize another method of service if it is not prohibited by an international agreement and is reasonably calculated to give the defendant notice of the lawsuit. The court has discretion to authorize such service; a party does not have to prove that every other possible method has failed.

Under Rule 4(f)(2)(B), a court may also direct a foreign authority to assist with service through a letter rogatory, which is a formal request from one court to a foreign court or authority to perform a judicial act.

Court’s analysis

The court found that no treaty or other international agreement between Taiwan and the United States governed service of process, so the proposed method was not prohibited by an international agreement. Although serving the grandson instead of Chung Peng Chih-Mei was unconventional, the court found the method appropriate because David Chung had previously contacted the grandson at the proposed email address to obtain Chung Peng Chih-Mei’s signature on important legal documents.

Considering the circumstances as a whole, including the earlier service attempts, the court found that emailing the grandson was reasonably calculated to notify Chung Peng Chih-Mei of the lawsuit and give her an opportunity to respond. The court therefore authorized service under Rule 4(f)(3).

The court also found a letter rogatory appropriate because there were no applicable service treaties or agreements between Taiwan and the United States. It corrected the draft letter because it incorrectly described the request as seeking international assistance to obtain evidence. The court signed the revised letter and granted the request on the condition that Chung comply with U.S. Department of State requirements for submitting a letter rogatory to Taiwan.

Disposition

The court GRANTED Elizabeth Y. Chung’s Motion for Alternative Service. It permitted counsel to send an email to the specified address, attach English and Chinese versions of the summons and complaint, include specified text in both languages, and copy Daniel McKinnon and Michael Lonich. The court also signed the modified letter rogatory. The opinion decided service-related requests and did not decide the underlying ownership or asset claims.