United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 2024

Stinson v. Nejah

Stinson v. Nejah
United States District Court for the Northern District of California · Decided February 20, 2024
Stinson v. Nejah

Trial Court Opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 San Francisco Division 11 RONNIE STINSON, Case No. 23-cv-04858-LB 12 Plaintiff, ORDER REGARDING SERVICE BY 13 v. EMAIL 14 ALLEN NEJAH, et al., 15 Defendants.

17 One defendant in this case, Allen Nejah, has not been served yet. Because the plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis, service must be by a U.S. marshal. Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(3). Two attempts have already been made for service by personal delivery.1 This order is for a U.S. marshal to attempt service by email.

21 Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(e), a plaintiff may serve an individual defendant using any method permitted by the law of the state in which the district court is located or in which service is effected. Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(e)(1). California law allows for five basic methods of service: (1) personal delivery to the party, see Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 415.10; (2) delivery to someone else at the party’s usual residence or place of business with mailing after (known as “substitute service”), see id. § 415.20; (3) service by mail with acknowledgment of receipt, see id. ] § 415.30; (4) service on persons outside the state by certified or registered mail with a return || receipt requested, see id. § 415.40; and (5) service by publication, see id. § 415.50. California Code of Civil Procedure § 413.30 also provides that a court “may direct that summons be served |} ina manner which is reasonably calculated to give actual notice to the party served.” Courts in this district have authorized service by email under California Civil Procedure Code § 413.30. See, e.g., Cisco Sys., Inc. v. Shaitor, No. 18-cv-00480-LB, 2018 WL 3109398, at *3—4 (N.D. Cal. June || 25,2018); Steve McCurry Studios, LLC v. Web2Web Mktg., Inc., No. C 13-80246 WHA, 2014 8 WL 1877547, at *2—3 (N.D. Cal. May 9, 2014); Facebook, Inc. v. Banana Ads, LLC, No. C-11- || 3619 YGR, 2012 WL 1038752, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 27, 2012).

10 The court directs the U.S. Marshals Service to serve Allen Nejah at the following email 11 address: [email protected]. Steve McCurry Studios, 2014 WL 1877547, at *2 (email service || is permissible following “‘reasonable’ attempts to serve” by other means).

IT IS SO ORDERED. Ld EC 15 Dated: February 20, 2024 LAUREL BEELER 16 United States Magistrate Judge

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Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.