Suzhou Parsun Power Machine Co Ltd et al v. Western Import Manufacturing Distribution Group LTD et al

Filing 34

ORDER signed by Judge Rudolph T Randa on 10/22/10. The third-party defendants' 25 motion to dismiss for insufficient service is denied without prejudice.. (cc: all counsel) (mlm)

S u z h o u Parsun Power Machine Co Ltd et al v. Western Import Manufacturing D...ibution Group Ltd et al

D o c . 34

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT E A S T E R N DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

S U Z H O U PARSUN POWER MACHINE CO., Ltd., a foreign (Chinese) corporation, and M A R S ELECTRIC, LLC, a Wisconsin limited liability company, P l a i n t if f s , C a s e No. 10-C-398 -vsW E S T E R N IMPORT MANUFACTURING D I S T R I B U T I O N GROUP Ltd., a foreign (Canadian) corporation, SHELLEY A N N E HUDSON, Defendants.

D E C IS IO N AND ORDER

O n July 27, one of the defendants, Shelley Anne Hudson ("Hudson"), appearing pro s e , filed an answer to the claims brought against her by Suzhou Parsun Power Machine C o m p a n y and Mars Electric, LLC. In the same pleading, Ms. Hudson brought counterclaims a g a in s t the plaintiffs and also alleged claims against the following third parties: John F io r e n z a , Nianshi Han, Jian Xia and Liang Yang (the third-party defendants). On August 1 9 , the third-party defendants moved to dismiss for insufficient service of process under Fed. R . Civ. P. 12(b)(4). W h e n a defendant attempts to bring a third party into the litigation, the defendant has 1 2 0 days to accomplish service, probably longer if serving an individual in a foreign country (th re e of the third-party defendants reside in China). Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m); Practice

Dockets.Justia.com

C o m m en tary, Subdivision (f), Section C4-24 (Service on Individuals in Foreign Country), P a ra g ra p h 3 (Applicability of 120-Day Time Period to Foreign Service). This time period g e n e ra lly runs from the date the answer is filed. Fed. R. Civ. P. 4, Practice Commentary, S u b d i v is io n (m), Section C4-39 (Applying the 120-Day Time Period to Third-Party Claims, C o u n te rc la im s , Etc.) Therefore, the instant motion is premature. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the third-party defendants' motion to dismiss f o r insufficient service [D. 25] is DENIED without prejudice. D a te d at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 22 nd day of October, 2010. S O ORDERED,

s / Rudolph T. Randa HON. RUDOLPH T. RANDA U.S. District Judge

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