How to sue a company in another state?
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How to sue a company in another state?
I just asked about the location where I can serve a company a court summons for the small claims court. I read the response that since they do business in NY, I can serve them the summons for a NY court. As for sending the summons, do I need to find a NY address, or is sending it to their headquarter’s address in NJ sufficient? I tried filing once in NY and the small claims court in Nin my county refused to file it stating that since the address is NJ, I need to file it in NJ. How can I convince them to file it?
Asked on December 6, 2010 under Business Law, New York
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
I answered your earlier question and I think that the information someone at the court told you that you need to file in NJ is incorrect. A lawsuit can be filed where the plaintiff resides or where the defendant resides or where the claim arose. Since you live in NY, you should be able to file the lawsuit in NY. If someone at the court is giving out this incorrect information, it would be advisable to speak with the person's supervisor and tell them that a lawsuit can be filed where the plaintiff resides or where the defendant resides or where the claim arose and that since you are a resident of NY, you should be able to file your lawsuit in NY.
As for serving the Summons and Complaint (the Complaint is the lawsuit), you could either contact the Secretary of State's Office in NY to find out the agent and address for service of process for the company in NY and have that individual served or instead of doing that you could serve them in NJ at the corporate headquarters. In order to serve them in NJ, you should contact a process server in NJ and have that NJ process server serve the corporate headquarters with the Summons and Complaint. The process server should return the proof of service to you and you could file that with the NY court. To find a process server, look in the telephone book or online under attorney services.
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