Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. v. Grand China Shipping (Hong Kong) Co.

878 F. Supp. 2d 1252, 2013 A.M.C. 866, 2012 WL 2870703, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93788
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Alabama
DecidedJuly 6, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 12-0095-CG-C
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 878 F. Supp. 2d 1252 (Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. v. Grand China Shipping (Hong Kong) Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. v. Grand China Shipping (Hong Kong) Co., 878 F. Supp. 2d 1252, 2013 A.M.C. 866, 2012 WL 2870703, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93788 (S.D. Ala. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

CALLIE V.S. GRANADE, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the report and recommendation of the Magistrate Judge (Doc. 48), Defendants 1 objec[1255]*1255tion to the report and recommendation (Doc. 52), and Plaintiffs Brief in Opposition (Doc. 58). The Magistrate Judge recommended that that Defendants’ motion to dismiss (Doc. 21) be granted in part and denied in part. Specifically, the Magistrate Judge determined that this Court lacks personal jurisdiction over Defendants, but denied the motion to the extent it asserted that maritime attachment pursuant to Supplemental Rule B was not accomplished. Defendants do not dispute the validity of the attachment, but object that the Magistrate did not rule on whether Plaintiff provided them with legally sufficient notice thereof.

After due and proper consideration of all portions of this file deemed relevant to the issues raised, and a de novo determination of those portions of the report and recommendation to which objection is made, the report and recommendation of the Magistrate Judge made under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) is ADOPTED as the opinion of this Court, subject to the following additional discussion.

DISCUSSION

Defendants argue that Plaintiff failed to provide proper notice of maritime attachment and garnishment when Plaintiff sent certain documents to them in China by Federal Express rather than according to the procedures prescribed by the Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (“the Hague Service Convention” or “the Convention”). (See Doc. 21 at 7; Doc. 52 at 4-8). Because “compliance with the Convention is mandatory in all cases to which it applies,” Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft v. Schlunk, 486 U.S. 694, 705, 108 S.Ct. “2104, 100 L.Ed.2d 722 (1988), the Court must first determine what procedures — those allowed by the Convention or those set forth in Supplemental Rule B(2) — apply when a defendant is. to receive notice of maritime attachment abroad. This appears to be an issue of first impression.

Defendants argue that, because they are Chinese corporations in the People’s Republic of China, Articles 1 and 10(a) of the Convention trump Rule B. Article 1 declares that the Convention “shall apply in all cases, in civil or commercial matters, where there is occasion to transmit a judicial or extrajudicial document for service abroad.” Article 10(a) provides that, as long as the “State of destination” does not object, the Convention “shall not interfere with the freedom to send judicial documents, by postal channels, directly to persons abroad.” The People’s Republic of China has objected to Article 10. See Hague Convention, China Declaration Notification, 3, available at http://www.hcch. het/index_en.php?aet=status.comment& csid=393&disp=resdn (declaring “to oppose the service of documents in the territory of the People’s Republic of China by the methods provided by Article 10 of the Convention”).

In an effort to extend the Convention’s application beyond service of process, Defendants focus on the use of the words “transmit” and “send” in Articles 1 and 10, respectively. They argue that Plaintiffs notice via Federal Express was the “transmission” of a “judicial document,” triggering Article 1 and rendering adherence to the Hague Service Convention’s procedures mandatory. (Doc. 52 at 5). Defendants further argue that because China has explicitly rejected service by mail, Article 10 prohibits Plaintiff from “sending” notice via channels like Federal Express. (Doc. 21 at 5) Employing the doctrine of [1256]*1256noscitur a sociis, Defendants maintain that Article 10’s use of “send” is not synonymous with “service,” but more broadly refers to the mailing of judicial documents. (Doc. 36 at 5; Doc. 52 at 5). As discussed in greater detail below, Defendants’ arguments are unpersuasive and unavailing.

I. Article 1

In Volkswagenwerk, the Supreme Court demarcated the scope and reach of the Convention, maintaining that it applies only to instances of formal service. Relying heavily on the Convention’s drafting history, and upon review of the record of the Convention’s negotiations, the Court determined that “Article 1 refers to service of process in the technical sense.”2 486 U.S. at 700, 108 S.Ct. 2104. That conclusion is further supported by guidance from the Hague Conference itself. See Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Hague Convention of 15 November 1965 On the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters 23 (3d ed.2006) [hereinafter Practical Handbook] (“[T]he term ‘service’ has a well-established technical meaning and refers to a formal delivery of documents that is legally sufficient to charge the defendant with notice of a pending action. It is in this technical sense that the expression is being used in the Convention.... [I]f the law of the forum states that a notice is to be somehow directed to one or several addressee(s), without requiring service, the Convention does not have to be applied.” (emphasis in original)).3

Here, Plaintiff sought an attachment under Supplemental Rule B, and the Magistrate Judge ordered issuance of process. (Docs. 6-8). Plaintiff then mailed the summons, complaint and related documents to Defendants in China via Federal Express. (Doc. 21 at 2). If a return receipt was requested, Plaintiff may have complied with the notice procedures of Supplemental Rule B(2)(b).4 But notice is

[1257]*1257not service. E. Asiatic Co. v. Indomar, Ltd., 422 F.Supp. 1335, 1339-41 (S.D.N.Y.1976) (“[C]ompliance with Supplemental Rule B does not constitute service of process under Rule 4----[Supplemental Rule B(2)] notice bears no significance with respect to service of process under Rule 4.”). With this in mind, and given that the Hague Service Convention governs formal service only, the Court concludes that the Convention does not preempt Supplemental Rule B. Therefore, Plaintiffs Federal Express mailing, though insufficient to effectuate service upon Defendants as required for this Court to exercise personal jurisdiction, may have legally notified Defendants of the attachment and garnishment.

II. Article 10(a)

Defendants also argue that Article 10(a), which permits a party “to send judicial documents” by mail so long as the “State of destination” does not object, prevents Plaintiff from mailing notice of maritime attachment. To date, the Supreme Court has yet to interpret Article 10(a), and there is a clear split among the circuits as to whether the use of “send” as used therein refers only to formal service of process. On one side of the split are the Ninth and Second Circuits, which relied on the intent of the drafters to conclude that “send” in Article 10(a) was intended to mean “service.” See Brockmeyer v. May, 383 F.3d 798, 802-03 (9th Cir.2004); Ackermann v.

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878 F. Supp. 2d 1252, 2013 A.M.C. 866, 2012 WL 2870703, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93788, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hyundai-merchant-marine-co-v-grand-china-shipping-hong-kong-co-alsd-2012.