Opinion ID: 2194999
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Inapposite Federal Precedent

Text: Because of its insistence on deciding this case in terms of Rule 273 rather than on the basis of the final two elements of res judicata, the majority is forced to continue its analysis by relying on inapposite case law in an attempt to circumvent the plain language of Rule 273. Noting that our own rule shares a common heritage with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), the majority cites to the United State's Supreme Court's decision in Costello v. United States, 365 U.S. 265, 81 S.Ct. 534, 5 L.Ed.2d 551 (1961). Costello, however, did not involve a dismissal of an action based on the running of a statute of limitations. Instead, the Court in Costello merely held that a dismissal of a complaint in a denaturalization proceeding for the failure to file an affidavit of good cause did not constitute an adjudication on the merits under Rule 41(b). In reaching that conclusion, the Court specifically noted that such dismissals were equivalent to dismissals for lack of jurisdiction. Costello, 365 U.S. at 285, 81 S.Ct. at 544, 5 L.Ed.2d at 564. The Supreme Court further observed that dismissals for lack of jurisdiction were expressly exempt from the effect of Rule 41(b), which, like our Rule 273, provides in pertinent part: `Unless the court in its order for dismissal otherwise specifies, a dismissal under this subdivision and any dismissal not provided for in this rule, other than a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction or for improper venue, operates as an adjudication upon the merits.' (Emphasis added.) Costello, 365 U.S. at 284, 81 S.Ct. at 544, 5 L.Ed.2d at 564, quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(b). Consequently, the Supreme Court had no difficulty in finding that the dismissal of a complaint for failure to file the requisite affidavit, which it likened to a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction, was not an adjudication on the merits. I do not find Costello persuasive in resolving the precise issue presented in the case at bar. Indeed, the opinion in Costello contains not one reference to statutes of limitations, dismissals obtained through them, or their effect under Rule 41(b). Yet Costello is the sole federal case cited by the majority, and it is the majority which believes that federal case law, rather than state law precedent, is controlling. Even if federal precedent were controlling, my research reveals that the federal judiciary has uniformly held that an involuntary dismissal obtained on statute of limitations grounds constitutes an adjudication on the merits under Rule 41(b). See Murphy v. Klein Tools, Inc., 935 F.2d 1127 (10th Cir.1991) (dismissal on limitations grounds constitutes an adjudication on the merits) (citing, inter alia, Steve D. Thompson Trucking, Inc. v. Dorsey Trailers, Inc., 870 F.2d 1044 (5th Cir.1989), Rose v. Town of Harwich, 778 F.2d 77 (1st Cir.1985), and Johnson v. Burnley, 887 F.2d 471 (4th Cir. 1989)); see also Shoup v. Bell & Howell Co., 872 F.2d 1178 (4th Cir.1989) (citing Nilsen v. City of Moss Point, 701 F.2d 556 (5th Cir. 1983), PRC Harris, Inc. v. Boeing Co., 700 F.2d 894 (2d Cir.1983), and Nathan v. Rowan, 651 F.2d 1223 (6th Cir.1981)). In fact, the very analysis utilized by today's majority was rejected by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Shoup v. Bell & Howell Co., 872 F.2d 1178 (4th Cir.1989), where plaintiffs tried unsuccessfully to apply the Costello rationale to the statute of limitations question. In sum, I do not agree with the majority that the proper resolution of the res judicata issue presented in this case turns upon the meaning of Rule 273. In my view, it is not the first element of res judicata (adjudications on the merits) which is at issue here, but rather the final two elements (identity of claims and parties). But even if I did agree with the majority in this respect, I would not be swayed by their citation to federal case law. For these reasons, I do not place any credence on the majority's reliance on Costello.