1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 ALEXANDER MARTIN VON Case No. 20-cv-00411-SVK BRANDENFELS, 8 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S 9 EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR v. ALTERNATIVE SERVICE 10 ROOMSTER CORP, Re: Dkt. No. 35 11 Defendant. 12 13 On May 6, 2020, Defendant Roomster Corp. filed the instant ex parte application for 14 alternative service pursuant to Rule 45 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Dkt. 35. 15 Defendant seeks to serve a subpoena to testify at a deposition and produce documents to third- 16 party Christina White via an email to Plaintiff, whom White is currently residing with. Dkt. 35 at 17 1-2; Dkt. 35-4 at 2. Defendant also asks this Court to require Plaintiff to confirm, within twenty- 18 four (24) hours of receipt of email service, that he has provided the subpoena to White. Id. 19 Rule 45 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states that “[s]erving a subpoena requires 20 delivering a copy to the named person.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(b)(1). “The majority of courts 21 understand ‘delivering’ to require personal service of the subpoena.” Fujikura Ltd. v. Finsar 22 Corp., No. 15-mc-80110-HRL (JSC),

, at *5 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 5, 2015). 23 However, “[c]ourts have permitted parties to serve Rule 45 subpoenas by alternative methods of 24 service other than personal service.” Toni Brattin & Co. v. Mosaic Int’l, LLC, No. 15-mc-80090- 25 MEJ,

, at *3 (N.D. Cal. April 9, 2015). “Courts are more inclined to grant such 26 alternative service where the serving party has provided sufficient evidence of its earlier diligence 27 in attempting to effectuate personal service.” Fujikura Ltd.,

, at *5. Here, 1 avail. Dkt. 25 at 4-6; see also Dkt. 35-1; Dkt. 35-2; Dkt. 35-3. The Court also takes into 2 || consideration the impediments to personal service effected by the current COVID-19 restrictions 3 || in place in the State of California. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s application. 4 || Defendant is ORDERED to serve third-party Cristina White by emailing the subpoena to 5 Plaintiff. Plaintiff is ORDERED to confirm with Defendant that he has provided the subpoena to 6 || White within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt of email service. 7 SO ORDERED. 8 Dated: May 15, 2020 9 10 esa vi ul SUSAN VAN KEULEN I United States Magistrate Judge 12

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