Fairview Health Services v. Armed Forces Office of the Royal Embassy of Saudi…

Background

Fairview Health Services sued the Armed Forces Office of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. The complaint alleges that the defendant breached a contract by failing to pay for medical services Fairview provided.

Fairview moved for an order directing the clerk of court to serve the defendant by mail under 28 U.S.C. § 1608(a)(3). Fairview argued that the defendant is a political subdivision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that no special service arrangement applied, and that no international convention governing service of judicial documents applied between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Fairview asked the clerk to send the summons, complaint, notice of suit, and Arabic translations by FedEx or DHL to the head of Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry. It also asked the court to treat service as complete if no signed acknowledgment of receipt was filed within 30 days.

Analysis

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(j)(1) requires service on a foreign state or its political subdivision under 28 U.S.C. § 1608. That statute lists four service methods in order of preference: a special arrangement, an applicable international convention, mailing by the clerk to the head of the foreign state’s ministry of foreign affairs, and, if the third method cannot be completed within 30 days, mailing by the clerk to the Secretary of State in Washington, D.C.

The court agreed that service could not be made under the first two methods. The court stated that Fairview had no special service arrangement with Saudi Arabia and that Saudi Arabia was not a party to the international convention governing service abroad of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters. The court therefore directed service under § 1608(a)(3): the clerk was to send the required documents and translations by a form of mail requiring a signed receipt to the head of Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry.

The court rejected Fairview’s request to deem service complete automatically if no acknowledgment of receipt was filed within 30 days. If no acknowledgment is filed within that period, the court stated that Fairview must proceed under § 1608(a)(4) or seek other appropriate relief.

Order

The court granted in part and denied in part Fairview’s motion. Fairview was ordered to deliver the documents to the clerk’s office within seven days and provide a completed FedEx airbill, including an account number, a signed-receipt requirement, and the clerk’s office as the sender. The clerk was ordered to send the documents to Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs within seven days after receiving them and to file an affidavit or declaration of mailing promptly. If the clerk receives a signed acknowledgment of receipt, it must be filed promptly and will be treated as proof of service under Rule 4(l).