DATE: Tuesday, November 4, 1997             TAG: 9711040284

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

                                            LENGTH:   59 lines

DESPITE VA. LAW, MAIL IS RULED INADEQUATE FOR LEGAL NOTIFICATION

The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a ruling that first-class mail is not a constitutionally adequate way to tell people they've been sued, even though Virginia law says otherwise.

The justices, without comment, refused to review a Maryland court's finding of fault with the Virginia law.

``It really has no impact on Virginia's law, one way or the other,'' said Don Harrison, spokesman for the state attorney general's office.

``All it means is that, at least in the case of Maryland, we will have to continue serving twice,'' Harrison said. Maryland requires notice be filed with its secretary of state and served upon the defendant, he said.

All but two states, Virginia and Minnesota, require such notice to be given by personal delivery or certified mail, legal papers filed in the case suggest.

Unless Virginia's law changes to conform with the other states, the Maryland ruling could create problems in Virginia lawsuits involving people out of state, said Mechele Dickerson, assistant professor of law at the College of William and Mary.

``It now gives anybody that has been served by (first-class) mail in a Virginia lawsuit an additional argument to make as to why the Virginia judgment is not valid,'' Dickerson said.

``Anyone from here forward that is served by mail could make the argument that they didn't receive it, and that first-class mail service isn't constitutionally permissible,'' she said.

The case involved a company suing a couple over land they owned in Warren County. Resort Properties Inc. won a $4,211 judgment in a Virginia court and wanted to have the victory recognized by a court in Carroll County, Md., where Gerard and Karen Miserandino live.

The couple objected, saying they had not been told about the Virginia lawsuit. The company notified the couple in a letter a state official sent by first-class mail.

The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in February that first-class mail is ``constitutionally inadequate to afford the due process required by the United States Constitution.'' Virginia officials and Resort Properties appealed to the Supreme Court.

Virginia's appeal argued that a court should be not be able to second-guess the decisions of a neighboring state's legislature ``merely because that court concludes that, in its opinion, more stringent and costly notice requirements are preferable.''

In a friend-of-the-court brief, the Virginia Credit Union League said the Maryland ruling would be a disaster for Virginia businesses.

``If allowed to stand, the decision essentially invalidates any number of existing judgments against nonresidents,'' the justices were told.

While Virginia isn't likely to have to change its law, several commercial process servers said they try to deliver legal notices in person whenever possible, and they will continue to do so to avoid problems.

``It could get lost in the mail,'' said Fred Atwell of Civil Process Service Inc. of Newport News. KEYWORDS: U.S. SUPREME COURT RULING

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