Opinion ID: 389522
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: applying the texas statute of limitations

Text: 65 The parties agree that if Texas law applies, the applicable limitations period is that contained in Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5526 (Vernon Supp.1980), which provides in pertinent part as follows: 66 There shall be commenced and prosecuted within two years after the cause of action shall have accrued, and not afterward, all actions or suits in court of the following description: 67 4. Action for injury done to the person of another. 68 5. Action for injury done to the person of another where death ensued from such injury; and the cause of action shall be considered as having accrued at the death of the party injured. 69 The parties agree that both the wrongful death and survival causes of action accrued on July 29, 1976. 13 Ellis' first complaint was filed on July 28, 1978 one day short of two years after the causes of action accrued. 70 It is absolutely clear, however, that under Texas law, the mere filing of a suit will not interrupt or toll the running of a statute of limitation; to interrupt the statute, the use of diligence in procuring the issuance and service of citation is required. Zale Corp. v. Rosenbaum, 520 S.W.2d 889, 890 (Tex.1975). Accord, Rigo Manufacturing Co. v. Thomas, 458 S.W.2d 180, 182 (Tex.1970); Buie v. Couch, 126 S.W.2d 565, 566 (Tex.Civ.App. Waco 1939, writ ref'd). The diligence that must be shown by the plaintiff is the same as that which would have been exercised by an ordinarily prudent person under the same or similar circumstances. E. g., Hamilton v. Goodson, 578 S.W.2d 448, 449 (Tex.Civ.App. Houston (1st Dist.) 1979, no writ); McGuire v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., 561 S.W.2d 213, 215 (Tex.Civ.App. Houston (1st Dist.) 1977, no writ); Beavers v. Darling, 491 S.W.2d 711, 714 (Tex.Civ.App. Waco 1973, no writ). 71 The reasonableness of a plaintiff's delay in procuring the issuance and service of citation is usually a question of fact. E. g., Hamilton, 578 S.W.2d at 449; Beavers, 491 S.W.2d at 714. Here, the district court has made no finding of fact as to Ellis' diligence. SFI and SFOT, however, urge that under Texas law, the delay in procuring the issuance and service of valid process was such as to make Ellis nondiligent as a matter of law. The key Texas case upon which they rely is Rigo Manufacturing Co. v. Thomas, supra. 72 The plaintiffs in Rigo first filed their wrongful death and survival action in federal district court on June 24, 1966. That suit, however, was dismissed by the federal court for lack of jurisdiction on October 4, 1966. The plaintiffs then filed in state court on October 14, 1966 two years, three months, and sixteen days after the causes of action accrued (June 28, 1964). After filing in state court, the plaintiffs served Rigo with nonresident notice under Tex.R.Civ.P. 108 on October 21, 1966; Rigo promptly challenged the sufficiency of service under this rule, but the trial court did not sustain Rigo's plea in abatement until March 28, 1968. Immediately thereafter, the plaintiffs secured the issuance and service of proper citation. 73 The court of civil appeals held that the limitations period specified in article 5526 had been tolled under the terms of the Texas saving statute, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5539a (Vernon 1958), which provides that when an action is dismissed from any trial court for want of jurisdiction but is refiled in the proper court within sixty days, the period between the date of the first filing and that of commencement in the proper court shall not be counted as part of the limitations period unless the defendant shows that the first filing was in intentional disregard of jurisdiction. 14 The Texas Supreme Court reversed, holding that as a matter of law, the plaintiffs had been nondiligent in obtaining the issuance and service of citation in the state-court suit, and that therefore that suit had not been commenced within the required sixty days under article 5539a. The court first noted that it had previously held that a delay of eight and one-third months demonstrated a lack of diligence as a matter of law. It then noted that in the lawsuit against Rigo, 74 there was a delay of some seventeen and one-half months (after filing suit in state court ) in securing the issuance and service of proper and effective citation, so that at the time of issuance and service thereof a period of three years and nine months had elapsed since accrual of the causes of action. 75 (T)he inadequacy of the (citation under Tex.R.Civ.P. 108) was promptly called to (the plaintiffs') attention by Rigo's plea to the jurisdiction Thus put on notice of the inadequacy of the Rule 108 citation, (the plaintiffs) nevertheless waited some seventeen months before procuring issuance and service of proper citation. 76 458 S.W.2d at 182. 77 SFI and SFOT would have us hold in the case at bar that the motion to dismiss which they filed in the federal court sitting in Arkansas similarly should have put Ellis on notice of the inadequacy of the substituted service on the Arkansas Secretary of State; they would further have us hold that under Rigo, Ellis' delay of over 500 days in obtaining valid service after that motion was filed should demonstrate that as a matter of law, Ellis lacked diligence in obtaining issuance and service of process. 78 We cannot agree with SFI and SFOT that Rigo and other Texas cases to similar effect 15 directly control the case at bar. These cases, taken together, stand for the proposition that an unexplained delay of as little as six months demonstrates as a matter of law that the plaintiff lacked diligence in obtaining the issuance and service of process. When there is an excuse offered that if proved would negate the inference of nondiligence, however, Texas law is equally clear that nondiligence cannot be determined as a matter of law, but instead must be the subject of factual findings. E. g., Beavers v. Darling, 491 S.W.2d 711, 714 (Tex.Civ.App. Waco 1973, no writ) (reversing summary judgment, despite delay of over three years in obtaining valid service of process, on grounds that plaintiff's proffered excuse that the defendant had moved from place to place in a large city during this period, and that this had defeated plaintiff's multiple efforts to obtain valid service of process, raised a factual issue as to his diligence). Here, there is at least some hint of an explanation for the delay in the mysterious docket entry that refers to the clerk's error in failing to issue process in August. In these circumstances, we are loath to hold that Ellis has been nondiligent as a matter of law. Neither can we say that SFI and SFOT have met their burden under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 in demonstrating that there is no genuine issue of fact as to Ellis' diligence. Accordingly, we must reverse the summary judgment rendered by the district court and remand for further proceedings on the question of Ellis' diligence in obtaining the issuance and service of process. 79 The question remains, however, whether and to what extent the district court on remand should consider the time during which Ellis' suit was pending in the federal court in Arkansas. As a practical matter, there can be no direct guidance from the Texas courts on this question, for there is no direct analog in Texas practice to the interstate transfers that are possible in federal practice under sections 1404(a) and 1406(a). Nonetheless, we think that the general rule in Texas i. e., that to toll the running of the statute of limitations, the plaintiff must demonstrate the diligence in procuring the issuance and service of citation that would have been exercised by an ordinary prudent person under the same or similar circumstances is flexible enough to encompass the situation presented by the case at bar. 80 In the case at bar, for example, the circumstances to be considered in determining Ellis' diligence would include those surrounding his initial filing of suit in the federal court sitting in Arkansas and the circumstances surrounding the transfer to the federal court in Texas. 16 With respect to the period of time during which his action was pending in the transferor court, it would be appropriate to consider whether Ellis' filing suit in Arkansas rather than elsewhere was in intentional disregard of the fact that he could not obtain personal jurisdiction over the defendants. 17 It would also be appropriate to consider whether Ellis acted promptly in moving for and securing a transfer under section 1404(a) or section 1406(a) once the transferor court had determined that it lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendants. But by the same token, the fact that Ellis may have resisted the defendants' challenge to the transferor court's personal jurisdiction should not be considered as an indication of nondiligence, at least so long as Ellis' resistance was in good faith. 18 With respect to the period of time after the transfer had been completed, the inquiry would shift to whether Ellis was diligent in seeking the valid issuance and service of process in the new forum. 19 81 For the foregoing reasons, we reverse and remand. If it is determined that Ellis was not diligent, his suit is time-barred under article 5526; if he was diligent, the litigation may proceed. 82 REVERSED and REMANDED.