GDES Intl LLC v. Shanghai Leikui Fluid Technology Co., LTD.

Background

GDES Intl LLC sought permission under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f)(3) to serve Shanghai Leikui Fluid Technology Co., Ltd., Hanyang Gu, Defang Li, Xintang Ni, and Sufang Gao by email. The court denied GDES’s first request on June 2, 2022, without prejudice to renew, because the filing consisted largely of conclusory arguments and did not provide a sufficient basis for the requested relief. The court also directed GDES to comply with Local Civil Rule 7.1(a).

GDES filed an amended request on June 16, 2022. The court denied that request on July 1, 2022, without prejudice to renew, finding that it had not corrected the deficiencies identified in the earlier order.

Second Amended Request

GDES then filed the second amended motion at issue. The court recognized that GDES had corrected one problem by proceeding through a notice of motion, as required by Local Civil Rule 7.1(a)(1). But Local Civil Rule 7.1(a)(3) requires factual information needed to decide a motion to be submitted through supporting affidavits and exhibits. GDES instead made factual statements in its memorandum of law. The court also noted that GDES did not identify the email addresses that would be used to serve the defendants.

Ruling

The court denied the second amended motion without prejudice to renew. It directed that any renewed motion comply with Local Civil Rule 7.1(a) and provide necessary factual information through an affidavit or declaration. The order addressed the requirements for seeking alternative service; it did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.