## Facts

- A civil action was pending in Mexico against Manhattan Trust Company of the City of New York (Manhattan Trust Company), a New York corporation with offices in New York.
- The Mexican court issued letters rogatory to a New York court requesting assistance in serving a Mexican summons and complaint on Manhattan Trust Company in New York.
- Manhattan Trust Company had no business operations and no property in Mexico.
- The New York court initially entered an order directing that the Mexican summons and complaint be served on Manhattan Trust Company in New York.
- Manhattan Trust Company appeared in the New York proceeding and moved to vacate the order authorizing service.

## Issues

1. May a New York court, based on comity and in response to letters rogatory, order service in New York of a Mexican summons and complaint on a New York corporation that has no business or property in Mexico?

## Decision

- The court granted Manhattan Trust Company’s motion to vacate the prior order.
- The court declined to carry out the request to serve the Mexican summons and complaint in New York through New York court process.

## Legal Principles

- Letters rogatory are a discretionary request from one court to another; they do not automatically authorize the requested act in the receiving forum.
- Comity does not require a New York court to execute a foreign court’s request to serve foreign civil process when local law provides no authority for that service.
- A New York court may refuse to use its processes to effect service of a foreign summons and complaint when the request functions primarily to bring a New York defendant within the foreign court’s jurisdiction, especially where the defendant has no business or property in that foreign country.

## Conclusion

In *In re Romero*, the New York Supreme Court vacated its earlier order that had directed service in New York of a Mexican summons and complaint on Manhattan Trust Company, holding that comity did not supply authority to have New York courts act as a mechanism for serving foreign process in these circumstances.


In re Romero, 107 N.Y.S. 621, 56 Misc. 319 (1907)