Opinion ID: 548351
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Lamp and its Progeny

Text: 12 Over the years, the Commonwealth's relatively liberal rules for commencing an action gave rise to an informal practice among plaintiffs' attorneys in Pennsylvania of effectively tolling the statute of limitations by filing a praecipe, but then delaying service of process in order to give an attorney additional time to engage in settlement discussions with the defendant who was, in the absence of service of process, not obliged to incur the expense of retaining counsel. Depending on the local practice, attorneys would accomplish this delay by directing the prothonotary or the sheriff to hold the writ, by personally retaining the writ and not delivering it to the sheriff for service, or by failing to pay the service fee. 6 13 The Pennsylvania Supreme Court condemned this practice in Lamp. The plaintiff's attorney in that case had filed a praecipe on August 28, 1969, two days before the expiration of the two-year statute of limitations on his client's personal injury claim. The attorney instructed the prothonotary to issue the writ of summons, but not deliver the writ to the sheriff for service. Thus, the writ expired, unserved, after one month. On April 9, 1970, the attorney filed a praecipe for reissuance of the writ and again the writ was not served. On June 4, 1970, the attorney filed a third praecipe, and the defendants were served shortly thereafter--almost three years after the plaintiff's injury, but within two years of the filing of the first praecipe. The court concluded that 14 there is too much potential for abuse in a rule which permits a plaintiff to keep an action alive without proper notice to a defendant merely by filing a praecipe for a writ of summons and then having the writ reissued in a timely fashion without attempting to effectuate service. In addition, we find that such a rule is inconsistent with the policy underlying statutes of limitation of avoiding stale claims, and with that underlying our court rules of making the processes of justice as speedy and efficient as possible. 15 469 Pa. at 477, 366 A.2d at 888-89 (footnotes omitted). Accordingly, the court exercised its supervisory power over the Pennsylvania courts to announce a new rule that a writ of summons shall remain effective to commence an action only if the plaintiff then refrains from a course of conduct which serves to stall in its tracks the legal machinery he has just set in motion. Id. at 478, 366 A.2d at 889. 7 The court also held that plaintiffs must comply with local practice as to the delivery of the writ to the sheriff for service. Id. 16 Subsequent Pennsylvania decisions applying Lamp have illuminated the contours of its holding. In Farinacci v. Beaver County Industrial Development Authority, 510 Pa. 589, 511 A.2d 757 (1986), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stated that 17 Lamp requires of plaintiffs a good-faith effort to effectuate notice of commencement of the action. Although this good-faith requirement is not apparent from a reading of the rule itself, we interpret the rule mindful of the context in which it was announced. The purpose for the rule, as stated in Lamp, is to avoid the situation in which a plaintiff can bring an action, but by not making a good-faith effort to notify a defendant, retain exclusive control over it for a period in excess of that permitted by the statute of limitations. 469 Pa. at 478, 366 A.2d at 889 [Emphasis supplied]; see also Jacob v. New Kensington Y.M.C.A., 312 Pa.Super. 533, 459 A.2d 350 (1983). 18 In each case, where noncompliance with Lamp is alleged, the court must determine in its sound discretion whether a good-faith effort to effectuate service was made. 19 510 Pa. at 594, 511 A.2d at 759. In Farinacci, the plaintiffs' attorney filed a praecipe on the last day of the two-year limitation for personal injury claims, but failed to provide service instructions or pay the sheriff's fee. The court upheld the trial court's dismissal of the action, concluding that the plaintiffs had failed to provide an explanation for counsel's inadvertence which could substantiate a finding that plaintiffs made a good-faith effort to effectuate service of the writ. 510 Pa. at 595, 511 A.2d at 760. 20 As in Farinacci, the post-Lamp decisions of the Pennsylvania Superior Court have focused on the plaintiff's good faith in following the procedure or local practice governing service of process. See Gutman v. Giordano, 384 Pa.Super. 78, 83-84, 557 A.2d 782, 785 (1989) (Lamp requirement satisfied where plaintiff followed correct procedure in obtaining writ and made good-faith service attempts at defendant's place of employment); see also Leidich v. Franklin, 394 Pa.Super. 302, 575 A.2d 914, 919 (1990) (Lamp requirement satisfied where plaintiff's timely, but technically defective, mail service put the defendants on notice of commencement of action); Gould v. Nazareth Hospital, 354 Pa.Super. 248, 252-53, 511 A.2d 855, 858 (1986) (Lamp requirement satisfied where plaintiff complied with procedure for issuance of writ and failure to attempt service on appellee within the life of the writ lies with the sheriff's office, and not the plaintiff). However, the closest post-Lamp Superior Court case on point is Beck v. Minestrella, 264 Pa.Super. 609, 401 A.2d 762 (1979). There the plaintiffs filed a praecipe for a writ of summons two weeks before the expiration of the statute of limitations. The writ was properly delivered to the sheriff, who was unable to locate the defendants. After almost two years had passed, the plaintiffs again attempted to serve the defendants and the sheriff was again unsuccessful in locating them. Three months later, service on the defendants was finally made. Despite the delay between the initial issuance of the writ and the actual service on the defendants, the Superior Court found that the plaintiffs' action was timely filed, stating: 21 We think it is clear that Lamp is not applicable. The plaintiffs here in each instance delivered to the sheriff for service the writ, the complaint in trespass, and the reinstated complaint. Each such issuance and delivery kept the action alive for a period equal to the original period of limitation applicable to the action. Zarlinsky v. Laudenslager, 402 Pa. 290, 167 A.2d 317 (1961). At no time does the record indicate that he did anything to impede the service of the various papers or engage in any conduct of any kind to stall in its tracks the legal machinery. 22 264 Pa.Super. at 614, 401 A.2d at 764. 23 In nearly all of the reported cases in which Lamp was applied to nullify the tolling effect of the filing of a praecipe or a complaint, plaintiffs failed to comply with the practice or procedure governing service of process. See, e.g., Feher by Feher v. Altman, 357 Pa.Super. 50, 515 A.2d 317 (1986) (plaintiff failed to provide service instructions or pay service fee), allocatur denied, 515 Pa. 622, 531 A.2d 430 (1987); Watts v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 353 Pa.Super. 267, 509 A.2d 1268 (1986) (plaintiff failed to deliver writ to sheriff), allocatur denied, 514 Pa. 632, 522 A.2d 559 (1987); Weiss v. Equibank, 313 Pa.Super. 446, 460 A.2d 271 (1983) (plaintiffs failed to provide service instructions or pay service fee); Pannill v. Seahorne, 278 Pa.Super. 562, 420 A.2d 684 (1980) (plaintiffs failed to deliver the complaint to the sheriff with directions for service); Delphus v. Kastanek, 267 Pa.Super. 26, 405 A.2d 1285 (1979) (plaintiffs failed to deliver writ to sheriff); Snyder v. North-South Bowl, Inc., 263 Pa.Super. 328, 397 A.2d 1232 (1979) (same); Demnyan v. Ford Motor Co., 38 Pa.D. & C.3d 542 (C.P. Washington Co.1986) (same); Corsetti v. Yezbak, 36 Pa.D. & C.3d 123 (C.P. Fayette Co.1985) (plaintiff failed to pay service fee).