Law Times

Law Times • February 12, 2018 Page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com Shift in how lawyers use technology Instagram used to serve defendant BY ALEX ROBINSON Law Times W hen Toronto law- yer Tara Vasdani could not track down a defend- ant she was looking to serve, she turned to Instagram. Vasdani recently obtained an order in Ontario Superior Court to serve a statement of claim using the social media app, which allows users to share photos and videos. She says the order is likely the first of its kind in the province and, by allowing the service of a claim through Instagram, it sig- nals a shift in how lawyers inter- act with technology. "[I]n order to avoid becoming obsolete, it is our duty to evolve with society — and one of the concrete and surefire ways soci- ety is evolving is through tech- nology," she says. Vasdani, who is an associ- ate at Mason Caplan Roti LLP, issued the claim, in which she represents an insurance com- pany, at the end of August. She first attempted to serve the defendant on Sept. 1, 2017, using a physical address, and her process servers were told the defendant had moved away. She then tried using email, with a read receipt, but her messages were either ignored or never read. Vasdani then looked up the defendant on LinkedIn and contacted her last listed employ- er, who told her the person had never worked there. When Vasdani could not find the defendant on other social media sites, she turned to Insta- gram, which the lawyer says she uses much more than Facebook or other apps. Having found the defend- ant on Instagram, Vasdani brought a motion in court ask- ing if she could serve the de- fendant through Instagram and LinkedIn. The court granted service effective five days after Vasdani sent the necessary documents to the defendant through Insta- gram and LinkedIn, as well as through mail to her last known address. Vasdani served the defendant in a private message on Insta- gram. The court did not require a read receipt be obtained for the service to be effective. The lawyer says the order is the latest example of how the use of technology is creeping into the legal profession, which has been criticized for being largely resistant to change. Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi has committed to digitizing and modernizing the courts. The Ministry of the Attorney General recently made it pos- sible to file civil claims online. That's a change Vasdani says would have been inconceivable to many lawyers a year ago. "If we are able to shift the way that we use and apply the law and legal tools so that they are more consistent with the individuals we are seeking to hold legally accountable, we will be met with efficacy, client satisfaction and the prestige the profession since its inception has and deserves to continue to hold," she says. Other provinces have also seen courts approve new meth- ods of service. In Alberta, courts have issued orders allowing service via text message. Alberta lawyer Lindsey Mill- er, who is a partner with Field Law, says her firm obtained such an order recently. She says she started hearing about courts authorizing service via text message late last year. Serving a claim via text mes- sage involves taking images of the statement of claim and send- ing it by a cell number to defen- dants, she says. "I think it provides an ad- ditional method of service for parties who are difficult to locate or who are dodging physical ser- vice," Miller says. "In this modern age, clients will oen have a contact phone number for a party, but [they] may not have a physical address or a current physical address." She adds that text is a useful tool in a litigator's arsenal that will help reduce delays in effec- tive service, especially when try- ing to serve parties who work off-site. is is particularly helpful in Alberta, where many defen- dants work in remote locations for weeks at a time, she says. Vasdani says that, for centu- ries, lawyers have struggled with quantifiable recovery from legal claims. She also says that courts have oen resisted dubbing service effective until concrete modes of service had been proven. e order she obtained shows this is no longer the case, she says. "e future is now." LT NEWS Tara Vasdani says she used Instagram, a social media platform, to serve a defen- dant after other methods failed. I think it provides an additional method of service for parties who are difficult to locate or who are dodging physical service. Lindsey Miller Visit gpllm.law.utoronto.ca Questions? gpllm@utoronto.ca Apply today. ONE YEAR | PART-TIME | FOR LAWYERS AND BUSINESS LEADERS Master the Law. Canada's leading law school offers a graduate degree in four unique streams: Business Law Canadian Law in a Global Context Innovation, Law and Technology Law of Leadership Untitled-6 1 2017-07-27 2:46 PM

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