Kanye West’s former attorneys requested permission to use text messages to serve him with legal documents.
Law firm Greenberg Traurig asked for an extension to serve Kanye West after dropping him as a client. Attorneys needed to serve Ye before they could move on from a copyright infringement lawsuit against him.
Judge Analisa Torres granted Greenberg Traurig’s motion to withdraw as Ye’s counsel on November 30. The judge instructed the law firm to personally serve their ex-client with a court order by December 14.
Greenberg Traurig sought a deadline extension after struggling to locate Kanye West. Lawyers previously served him with the motion to withdraw from his case, but Ye stopped communicating with them.
“Ye ceased responding to GT’s attempts to contact him,” lawyer Justin MacLean wrote to Judge Torres. “And despite diligent efforts and the use of a process server, GT has been unable to locate Ye or serve him at the addresses that GT previously understood Ye to frequent. Accordingly, GT has been unable to personally serve Ye with the Order, and thus requests the extension to obtain additional time to attempt personal service.”
Greenberg Traurig urged the judge to extend the deadline to December 24. Attorneys also wanted authorization to serve Kanye West via text message since they cannot track him down. The law firm said the plaintiff and Ye’s co-defendants consented to the requested relief in the copyright infringement lawsuit.
“GT respectfully requests relief from the Court’s requirement to serve Ye personally, and leave to serve the Order on Ye by text message, by itself or in connection with a ‘multi-pronged approach to service,’” MacLean wrote. “GT respectfully submits that no party will suffer prejudice if the extension and request to serve via text are granted. As the Court noted in granting GT’s motion to withdraw, “[d]iscovery in this case is still pending, and no trial date has been set.’”
Greenberg Traurig was representing Kanye West in his legal battle against Ultra International Music Publishing. The company sued him for the unauthorized use of Marshall Jefferson’s song “Move Your Body.” It claimed Ye sampled the track without permission on his Donda 2 album.