Court Opinion

ID: 9705055
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 00:55:32.768462+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:07.621170
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
dissenting in part.
I join in Part I of the Court’s opinion. I cannot concur, however, in Part II. In my view the record in this case exposes the unfairness of the rule established in Givertz v. Maine Medical Center, 459 A.2d 548 (Me.1983). By application of the Givertz rule Russell Taylor’s suit is dismissed without any hint of prejudice to the defendant as a result of lack of notice. See Givertz, 459 A.2d at 556 (Roberts, J., dissenting).
The procedural history of this case demonstrates how the Givertz rule undermines the legitimate function of the notice requirement as outlined in Dougherty v. Oliviero, 427 A.2d 487 (Me.1981). When this action was commenced the defendant did not seek relief pursuant to Dougherty. Rather, he simply alleged enigmatically that plaintiffs “failed to perform all conditions precedent required by law.... ” The defendant lay in wait behind that vague allegation until after the two-year statute of limitations had expired. Then, for the first time, the defendant made specific reference to Russell Taylor’s failure to give notice pursuant to 24 M.R.S.A. § 2903. Clever defense counsel has turned section 2903 into “a trap for the unwary.” See Erickson v. State, 444 A.2d 345, 351 (Me.1982) (Roberts, J., dissenting).