On March 9, 2023 Associate Attorney Regina M. Taylor won a Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice on behalf of her client in Douglas County.
This case arose out of a motor vehicle accident that occurred on March 4, 2017. Plaintiff filed suit against Ms. Taylor’s client on March 1, 2019 in the State Court of Carroll County. Service, via substitution, was claimed to have been established on March 6, 2020. Plaintiff then voluntarily dismissed the case without prejudice on August 11, 2021. A renewal of the original action was filed for this suit in Douglas County on January 14, 2022. The six month renewal period expired on February 11, 2022, prior to Ms. Taylor’s client being served on March 31, 2022.
A Motion to Dismiss was filed on May 3, 2022 asserting the present action was an improper renewal action due to the lack of service on Defendant prior to the dismissal of the original suit thus rendering the original suit void. The motion also asserted that Defendant was not served within the applicable statute of limitation period and alleged that Plaintiff was guilty of laches. The viability of the renewal action was based upon whether Plaintiff perfected service on Defendant in the original suit.
The Court allowed a limited discovery period to address the service dispute. After that granted time period was completed, Plaintiff asked for an additional extension to seek further information to support their position. Ms. Taylor filed a response to that motion addressing the request as a “fishing expedition” in the face of a lack of any evidence in support of Plaintiff’s position. Ms. Taylor noted both the previously known and “newly discovered” evidence presented to the Court supported her position that the Court should grant Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. Affidavits, additional evidence, and the deposition testimony of a family member and deposition testimony of Ms. Taylor’s client supported the defense of improper service in the original action. In it’s final Order, the Court found that service was not perfected in the original suit, therefore rendering the original suit void. Since the privilege of dismissal of a renewal does not apply to void cases, Plaintiff was unable to use the original suit’s filing date to avoid expiration of the statute of limitation in the second suit. The Court dismissed the matter with prejudice.
The case is Corey L. Daise v. Marsha L. Allen CAFN 22SV00027
Read more about Attorney Regina Taylor here.
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