Farmers Property and Casualty Insurance Company v. Dean

Opinion

WO

Farmers Property and Casualty Insurance No. CV-25-00189-PHX-KML Company, Plaintiff, v. Richard Dean, et al., Defendants. Plaintiff Farmers Property and Casualty Insurance Company seeks permission to complete alternative service on defendant Richard Dean. (Doc. 18.) Dean resides in a gated community and when service was attempted, the security guard refused to admit the process server. (Doc. 18-1 at 8.) Additional service attempts at that location would be futile. Dean is involved in state court litigation and his counsel in that suit is Shawn Petri. (Doc. 18-1 at 14.) Petri stated attorney Anoop Bhatheja is Dean’s “personal counsel.” (Doc. 18- 1 at 14.) Farmers requests permission to serve Dean via certified mail to his home address and by emailing Petri and Bhatheja. Personal service would be extremely difficult and service via mail and email will provide adequate notice of this action. The court therefore authorizes alternative service. See Bank of New York Mellon v. Dodev, 433 P.3d 549, 558 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2018) (holding court may authorize alternative service when traditional “service would be extremely difficult or inconvenient”) (quotation marks and citation omitted). Accordingly, 1 IT IS ORDERED the Motion for Alternative Service (Doc. 18) is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED within ten days of this order, Farmers shall mail defendant Richard Dead copies of the Complaint, Summons and Civil Cover Sheet by certified mail to his home at 1176 Leisure World in Mesa, Arizona. Farmers shall also email defendant’s attorneys, Shawn Petri and Anoop Bhatheja, copies of the Complaint, Summons, and Civil Cover Sheet. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Farmers shall file proof of service within seven days of completing service. Dated this 1st day of April, 2025.

Honorable Krissa M. Lanham United States District Judge

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