News & Insights

Rare Relief In Southern District of New York

On August 16, 2010, Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York granted Justin Sher’s unusual motion to serve a summons and complaint by e-mail. The case involved allegations that an American talent agency defrauded Mr. Sher’s client, a Taiwanese entertainment firm, by falsely claiming to represent a premier hip-hop artist. Mr. Sher argued that it was impracticable to find the physical location of one of the defendants and that, because the alleged fraudulent conduct took place over e-mail and the Internet, service by e-mail offered the best hope of notifying the defendant of the lawsuit. The court agreed. Read the order here.