Your client calls with a problem. They have a contract with another company, the contract has been breached, and they want to file a lawsuit. Being the diligent lawyer that you are, you review the contract. It states that all lawsuits must be brought in Florida, the parties waive arguments regarding personal jurisdiction, and service by mail is permissible. So far, so good.

But, the defendant is located in another country. After you draft the lawsuit and file it, is service as simple as mailing a copy of the summons and complaint to the defendant’s overseas address? Not quite. Despite the language in the contract, you may still have to comply with the obligations of the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, otherwise known as the Hague Service Convention, to serve the foreign defendant.