Court Opinion

ID: 9819370
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 06:23:50.574305+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:38:30.293457
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE GALASSO, specially concurring: I write separately because facts of this case illustrate the problems even the most conscientious attorney may face in attempting to navigate between the rules of procedure and the commendable desire to have his or her client’s case resolved in the most efficient and least costly way possible. A lawsuit is filed utilizing the expedited arbitration proceeding. Such a suit has its own case identification (LM), its own rules for discovery, an arbitration hearing, and supplemental actions after an arbitration award. In the course of that proceeding, the plaintiff discovers that the damages exceed the $15,000 limit in LM cases. The plaintiff is now faced with a number of choices as to how to proceed. The plaintiff could amend its LM case to increase the ad damnum. However, as a result, the plaintiff would then face a litany of inquiries thereafter all revolving around the question of why a case that seeks damages in excess of $15,000 is designated as LM and why it is not subject to the rules that govern arbitration proceedings. The most reasonable choice for such a plaintiff under these circumstances would be to start anew and refile the complaint as an “L,” the designation for cases seeking damages in excess of $15,000. Such a decision would resolve all procedural problems and would allow the court and the parties to concentrate on the merits of the case rather than wasting time in a procedural quagmire. Nonetheless, no matter how reasonable or beneficial to the court and the parties, the above choice caused the plaintiff in this case to run afoul of section 13 — 217. As a result, the plaintiff in this case will be denied her day in court. While the salient purpose of section 13— 217 is to protect the defendant from marauding plaintiffs roaming the countryside filing complaints at will, under the scenario presented in this case, should a plaintiff who made a reasonable and beneficial choice as to the action she took suffer the ultimate penalty of loss of her cause of action? We, the legal profession, regularly seek to provide the most efficient and least costly ways to allow litigants to have cases resolved and to have their day in court. In doing so, our supreme court appropriately enacts rules and the legislature enacts laws that will assist both sides in a dispute to have the issues resolved in an expeditious and cost-efficient manner. As a result, we at times create problems such as exist in the present case. While a rule cannot anticipate each and every situation it will govern, the result in this case requires a rethinking of section 13 — 217.