Opinion ID: 1984231
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: disregard of court's order extending time for service

Text: The first issue is whether the Court erred in dismissing the petition where appellant failed to cure the defective service of the complaint within the court-ordered extended deadline where no prejudice was suffered by the opposing party. [4] Whether a court may disregard a litigant's defective service of process or violation of its order is vested within the sound discretion of that court. See De Fazio v. Labe, 518 Pa. 390, 401, 543 A.2d 540, 546 (1988) (absent a finding of an abuse of discretion, trial court's rigid application of procedural rules will not be overturned on appeal). It is well settled that late service of a complaint may be overlooked by a court where there is no prejudice. Id.; Byard F. Brogan, Inc. v. Holmes Elec. Protective Co.; 501 Pa. 234, 241, 460 A.2d 1093, 1096 (1983); Gagliardi v. Lynn, 446 Pa. 144, 151, 285 A.2d 109, 112 (1971) (and cases cited therein); Awkakewakeyes, supra ; National Solid Wastes, supra . In the present case the court chose to overlook the defective service, and instead ordered proper service to be effected within a certain specified time period. It is not disputed that appellant did not comply with the court's order. Appellant nevertheless argues that the Commonwealth Court abused its discretion in dismissing his complaint since the parties suffered no prejudice. To require the Commonwealth Court to overlook appellant's failure to comply with a court order and to accept service which is filed beyond the court-ordered extended deadline for amended service would be to countenance the dilatory actions of litigants who blatantly disregard court orders. We see no reason to adopt a per se rule that, as long as no prejudice is suffered by untimely service, a court order can be disregarded. In fact, if we were to adopt such a per se rule, we would be hindering the orderly disposition of cases before the courts of the Commonwealth and injecting into well-grounded procedure an element of uncertainty were there should be none. Accordingly, we discern no abuse of discretion by the Commonwealth Court in dismissing appellant's petition under these facts.