Tag Archives: Germany

Case of the Day: PATS Aircraft,v. Vedder Munich

Hague Service Convention,

Boeing 737

The case of the day is PATS Aircraft, LLC v. Vedder Munich GmbH (D. Del. 2016). PATS had a contract with a customer for modification of a Boeing 737 jet. PATS subcontracted the interior work to Vedder’s predecessor in interest, Loher Raumexklusiv GmbH. The parties ended up in a contract dispute. Vedder brought a declaratory judgment action in Germany, while PATS brought an action for breach of contract and breach of warranty in Delaware. Vedder moved to dismiss for insufficient service of process.
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Case of the Day: Topsnik v. United States

Hague Evidence Convention,
Internal Revenue Service sign
Don’t mess with the IRS. Credit: Joshua Doubek

The case of the day is Topsnik v. United States (Fed. Cl. 2016). Gerd Topsnik was “a German resident who formerly had business interests in the United States.” He brought claims for damages, asserting that the government had wrongfully levied taxes on him. (In fact, his claims should have been brought as claims for a refund of taxes, for jurisdictional reasons that the judge explained but that I won’t go into here). The root of the claim was that the statute of limitations barred the government from collecting the taxes.
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Case of the Day: SPM Thermo-Shield v. SICC GmbH

Hague Service Convention,

The case of the day is SPM Thermo-Shield, Inc. v. SICC GmbH (M.D. Fla. 2016). The facts of the case were not reported. SPM tried to effect service on SICC, a German firm, and one of its principals, Waldemar Walczok, by personal service on Walczok when he was in Florida. A judge quashed that service on the grounds that SPM had lured Walczok into the jurisdiction. But SPM had made no effort to serve process via the Hague Service Convention. The defendants moved to dismiss.
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