Court Opinion

ID: 9559567
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:31:24.220476+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:10:37.431140
License: Public Domain

CARTER, J.
I dissent.
The question presented by this appeal is whether the delivery of a summons by mail to and receipt of it by the Secretary of State followed by the mailing of it by the latter to the defendant corporation, in an action against the corporation, is sufficient compliance with the law on the subject. The case presented is properly one for substituted service and comes within the terms of section 373 of the Civil Code, as it read prior to 1941, as follows:
“Every domestic corporation may file with the Secretary of State a designation of a natural person, stating his residence or business address in this State, as its agent for the purpose of service of process, and the delivery to such agent of a copy of any process against such corporation shall con*214stitute valid service on such corporation. Such corporation shall file with the Secretary of State notice of any change in the address of the person thus designated, and may revoke any such designation by filing notice of the revocation thereof with the Secretary of State.
“If such designation has not been filed with the Secretary of State, and if personal service of process against such domestic corporation cannot be made with the exercise of due diligence in any other manner provided by law and the fact appears by affidavit to the satisfaction of the court or a judge thereof, such court or judge may make an order that the service be made upon such corporation by delivering to the Secretary of State, or to any person employed in his office in the capacity of assistant or deputy, one copy of such process for each defendant to be served. Service in such manner shall be and constitute personal service upon such corporation. Upon the receipt of such copy of process, the Secretary of State shall give notice of the service of such process to the corporation at its principal office in this State, by forwarding to such office, by registered mail with request for return receipt, such copy of such process. The defendant shall appear and answer within thirty days after delivery of such process to the Secretary of State.” (Emphasis added.)
The majority opinion holds that the delivery of the summons to the Secretary of State must be a personal one and not by mail. Indulgence in such technicality should not be permitted to thwart the ends of substantial justice. It must be remembered that the service involved is substituted service and not personal service. It is made effective as a means of acquiring jurisdiction in personam by statutory declaration. Such service does not necessarily give the defendant personal notification of the action. It need merely be designed to be likely to have that effect. Jurisdiction is acquired if compliance is had with the statutory requirements, even though the defendant never in fact receives a copy of the summons. Requiring the defendant to be subjected to jurisdiction over its person in that manner is a reasonable regulation when it fails to designate an agent upon whom process may be served or give the names and addresses of its officers. The purpose of requiring personal delivery of a summons to a natural person is to leave no doubt that he receives notice of the action. In substituted service only" a reasonable probability of that result is required. Hence, delivery by mail to the Secre*215tary of State is sufficient. To require personal delivery to the Secretary of State is contrary to the very nature of substituted service which rather than being personal service is a substitute therefor. It follows that when the Legislature established a method of substituted service it did not intend to require personal delivery of the summons to the Secretary of State. That personal service was not contemplated clearly appears from the ease of Holiness Church v. Metropolitan Church Assn., 12 Cal.App. 445 [107 P. 633], which holds that service on a foreign corporation by delivery to the Secretary of State is not personal service; it is substituted service. If it is not personal service then no personal delivery is required. A delivery by mail accomplishes all that is required, that is, substituted service.
If the Legislature had intended to require service by personal manual delivery rather than delivery by mail, it would have so provided. It should be noted that in specifying how summons shall be served generally it is stated that: “The summons must be served by delivering a copy thereof as follows: ... 7. In all other eases to the defendant personally.” (Code of Civ. Proc., sec. 411.) No requirement of personal delivery to the Secretary of State is made in section 373 of the Civil Code, the statute here in question. Likewise in section 413 of the Code of Civil Procedure providing that personal service out of the state may be made in lieu of mailing. The service specified is personal service. Also to the same effect are sections 1011 and 1019 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
In my opinion, the service of summons in this case was in substantial compliance with the statutory provisions relating to substituted service of summons on a domestic corporation which has not designated a person on whom service of process can be made, and the judgment should therefore be affirmed.
Peters J. pro tern., concurred.
Respondent’s petition for a rehearing was denied June 14, 1943. Carter, J., voted for a rehearing.