Substitutional Service via Facebook in Alberta – Slaw

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European Union Website Gets Major Makeover The $27-million Lawsuit for Refusing Emergency Passport Substitutional Service via Facebook in Alberta Substitutional Service via Facebook in Alberta by Shaunna Mireau September 24, 2009 Ah, the unreported judgment…or in this case Order. Sometimes, interesting tidbits come out of discussions that flow to my ears via conversations from our lunchroom. The walls of the Harvey A. Bodner Q.C. Lounge, named after one of my favourite former bosses, recently absorbed a conversation regarding a Masters order that an student-at-law heard about in passing from a professor regarding an order for substitutional service via Facebook. The rumour made its way to me and thanks to the great memory of many individuals, including Professor Billingsley who supplied me with an action number, and our students who never complain when they are sent to the courts for searches and copies, I have a copy of the order in my hands! The February 5, 2009 Order of Master Breitkreuz from Knott v. Sutherland says that the plaintiffs could substitutionally serve one of the multiple defendants by publication of a notice in the newspaper, by forwarding a copy of the statement of claim to the human resources department where the defendant (formerly) worked, and also by sending notice of the action to the Facebook profile of the defendant. Precedent for service in civil matters via Facebook exists from Australia and New Zealand, but I am not aware of this being ordered previously in Alberta. by Shaunna MireauDirector of Knowledge Management and Libraries at Field LLP. I am excited by the daily challenges of managing of the firm libraries, legal research and mentoring students, coordinating knowledge management projects, and close collaboration with the firm's technology team and practice groups. Thanks for reading slaw.ca [click on the author's name to go to email and web page links] on September 24th, 2009 Ah, the unreported judgment…or in this case Order. Sometimes, interesting tidbits come out of discussions that flow to my ears via conversations from our lunchroom. The walls of the Harvey A. Bodner Q.C. Lounge, named after one of my favourite former bosses, recently absorbed a conversation regarding a Masters order that an student-at-law heard about in passing from a professor regarding an order for substitutional service via Facebook. The rumour made its way to me and thanks to the great memory of many individuals, including Professor Billingsley who supplied me with an action number, and our students who never complain when they are sent to the courts for searches and copies, I have a copy of the order in my hands! The February 5, 2009 Order of Master Breitkreuz from Knott v. Sutherland says that the plaintiffs could substitutionally serve one of the multiple defendants by publication of a notice in the newspaper, by forwarding a copy of the statement of claim to the human resources department where the defendant (formerly) worked, and also by sending notice of the action to the Facebook profile of the defendant. Precedent for service in civil matters via Facebook exists from Australia and New Zealand, but I am not aware of this being ordered previously in Alberta. Respond: Make a comment \| Read the 12 comments Share: Email \| Save as PDF \| Print \| Linkedin, Facebook, Delicious, other More: on Legal Information or Substantive Law or Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions or Technology \| by Shaunna Mireau Currently there are 12 comments on “Substitutional Service via Facebook in Alberta” : John G has this comment: September 24th, 2009 at 8:40 pm Is there a way to cite that? A file number or other court reference? Is there any reasoning attached that might justify a law report series to publish it? I have had occasion to cite the AU and NZ cases, which I may have done from news stories. In the same article I cited a posting on Slaw, so I suppose that can work too… Pei Wang has this comment: September 24th, 2009 at 10:50 pm This is definitely novel. Is it possible to post a copy online? I’ll believe it when I see it. Shaunna Mireau has this comment: September 25th, 2009 at 11:31 am This order can be cited Knott v. Sutherland (5 February 2009), Edmonton 0803 02267 (Alta. Q.B.M.) I am happy to email copies of the order that we retrieved from the clerks. It is a very short order that includes the text of the notice. John G has this comment: September 25th, 2009 at 8:45 pm CanLII editors, please copy. Martin Kratz has this comment: September 27th, 2009 at 11:23 am I agree with John that the novelty of this form of substitutional services suggests publication of the case. With the growing importance of social media web sites we can expect to see more issues concerning such web sites being faced by our courts. Louise Vrebosch has this comment: January 15th, 2010 at 2:21 pm Hi Shaunna, I’m shocked that I hadn’t yet heard of this decision. Can you please forward me a copy? Thanks! Shaunna Mireau has this comment: January 18th, 2010 at 10:37 am Louise, Knott v. Sutherland is winging it’s way to you by email. Emma has this comment: February 4th, 2010 at 12:26 pm Just read that sub service via Facebook has also happened in Manitoba. See Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation v. Campbell Melanie Bueckert has this comment: February 5th, 2010 at 4:12 pm Folks following this issue might be interested in the recent bulletin issued by the Canadian Lawyers Insurance Association. Bulletin #189 summarizes some of the recent cases involving the treatment of Facebook by the courts (including disclosure obligations and substitutional service issues). Jason Gabriel has this comment: March 3rd, 2010 at 2:49 am Hi Shaunna, I was wondering whether I could get Knott v. Sutherland. Melanie Bueckert has this comment: March 15th, 2010 at 5:23 pm Another update for folks following this issue: the Law Times has just published an article on this subject. The article, written by Susan Hughes is entitled, “Facebook discovery: Is civil litigation in uncharted waters?” and is dated March 15, 2010. Shaunna Mireau has this comment: March 18th, 2010 at 5:33 pm Jason, sorry for the delay – if you send me an email (click on the author link at the top) I will reply with a copy. SOME COMMENTS MODERATED If you have not had an approved comment here before, your comment will be held for approval. We are glad to publish comments that address issues raised in the post or other comments on it and contribute to a fruitful discussion. We do not publish comments that seek to promote commercial products. 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