USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Steven Molo, Robert Kry, Megan Cunniff Church and Walter Hawes, MoloLamken
4.2 Service of Proceedings out of the Jurisdiction Plaintiffs seeking to join overseas parties must comply with the service of process requirements. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f) provides for service upon an individual outside the United States pursuant to the Hague Service Conven - tion or another internationally agreed means of service. Where there is no such service treaty between the United States and the foreign coun - try, Rule 4(f) requires that service be “reasonably calculated to give notice” of the suit by one of the following means: • as the foreign country’s law prescribes; • as the foreign authority directs in response to a letter rogatory; • unless prohibited by the foreign country’s law, by: (a) personal delivery; or (b) mail sent by the court clerk, return re - ceipt; or • other means ordered by the court. If a party maintains a presence in multiple coun - tries, it may make sense to choose the country in which to effect service based on the ease of satisfying the applicable service requirements for that country.
If the court is unable to join a foreign required party – for example, because it lacks jurisdic - tion – it might be required to dismiss the action. Jurisdiction A US court may exercise jurisdiction over a per - son or company located outside the relevant state only if it has personal jurisdiction over that person. State statutes known as “long-arm” statutes prescribe the circumstances where a court may exercise jurisdiction over a foreign person or company. For example, New York’s statute permits jurisdiction where: • the claim arises out of the defendant’s trans - action of business in the state or a contract to supply goods or services in the state; • the defendant commits a fraud or other tort within the state; • the defendant commits a fraud or other tort outside the state that harms someone in the state, and other requirements are met; or • the claim arises out of the defendant’s real property in the state. Federal courts may exercise personal jurisdic - tion when authorised by the applicable state long-arm statute and in certain other cases. In addition to satisfying statutory requirements, the plaintiff must show that exercising jurisdic - tion is consistent with constitutional due pro - cess. The Due Process Clause generally requires that the defendant have certain minimum con - tacts with the state relating to the underlying controversy, and that exercising jurisdiction would not offend the traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.
5. Enforcement 5.1 Methods of Enforcement
Once the plaintiff obtains a judgment in a fraud action, the plaintiff may seek to execute the judgment against the defendant’s assets in sev - eral ways. Execution procedures vary from state to state. Federal courts follow the state law pro - cedures of the state where they are located.
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