Opinion ID: 151784
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Service on Korb

Text: In their brief, the Gerenas explain that they had a difficult time serving Korb. According to appellants, Korb began studying overseas in the spring of 2007. Korb was originally scheduled to return to the United States at the end of May 2007, but appellants were advised that month by Korb's probation officer that he was remaining overseas. Although appellants apparently attempted to serve Korb through his parents several times during the summer of 2007, and enlisted the Essex County Sheriff to aid in these attempts, Korb's parents repeatedly refused service. The record includes an affidavit of service from an Essex County Sheriff stating: [U]nable to serve, spoke with the deft's father who refused to accept the papers. The undersigned instructed the father to have his son contact the undersigned. Deft. avoiding service. Undersigned made over 3 attempts. In December 2007, counsel for Korb filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff's complaint for, inter alia, lack of personal jurisdiction and failure to serve process. On December 13, 2007, however, Judge Sand adjourned both Korb's and Yale's motions to dismiss in order to give plaintiffs an opportunity to properly effect service. Failed attempts at service on Korb continued throughout the spring of 2008. In summer 2008, plaintiffs made an ex parte motion to Judge Sand to appoint a United States marshal to serve Korb. Judge Sand held a teleconference with the parties shortly thereafter. [1] During this conference, after noting that Korb seemed to be playing a cat-and-mouse game with plaintiffs regarding service, Judge Sand declined to grant Korb's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, explaining that he would not do so under circumstances which deprived the plaintiffs' counsel of questioning [whether New York personal jurisdiction might exist], for example ... letting [the Gerenas' attorney] depose Mr. Korb about the extent of his contacts in New York. Judge Sand granted plaintiffs' ex parte motion for service by marshal on July 8, 2008, stating that good cause has been shown in support of the application that the defendant Korb has made himself unavailable for service by other means. A Connecticut state marshal finally effected service on Korb on October 1, 2008, after the case had been transferred to Connecticut. United States marshals also served Korb in November 2008.