Kott v. Superior Court

Opinion

JOHNSON, J.

This is a petition for a writ of mandate in which petitioner, Irving Kott, seeks to reverse the trial court’s order refusing to quash service of summons. The issue is whether service of summons by publication is invalid under the Hague Service Convention once plaintiffs learned petitioner was a resident and citizen of Canada. We hold service by publication in this case was invalid due to plaintiffs’ failure to exercise due diligence to locate petitioner in Canada before seeking court authorization to accomplish service by publication in a Los Angeles newspaper. Accordingly,…