Facebook Utilized to Track Down Legal Defendants

2008-12-17 04:00:14 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Law, News)

Facebook used by attorney to serve legal papers to Australian couple.

Wired PR News.com – Courts may have found a new means of tracking down difficult to find defendants through social networking sites. As reported by AFP, one attorney in Australia sought permission from courts to locate a couple, whom he needed to serve legal documents, though Facebook. The couple had defaulted on a loan and were sent the papers on Tuesday.

As quoted in the AFP report of Attorney Mark McCormack’s firm, Meyer Vandenberg Lawyers, “We believe it’s certainly the first time in Australia… and we haven’t heard of it being done anywhere internationally.” McCormack, who has his own page on Facebook believes the use of these kinds of modern technologies will become more prevalent in the legal community, stating to the AAP news agency “I think the courts will continue to adopt it on a case by case basis.”

The attorney was representing an organization that had lent the defendants over 100,000 dollars (66,940 in US currency), and found contact with the couple online after failing to track them down at the addresses provided for them.