Thursday, June 23, 2011

It Is Still Possible to Have a Case Dismissed for Inactivity (Judgment Non Pros) - Part II

I recently reported on the 11 year old case of Pagnotti v. Louis Pagnotti, Inc., 2000 - CV - 566 (Lacka. Co. June 1, 2011 Minora, J.), in which Judge Carmen D. Minora of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas applied the factors set forth in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case of Jacobs v. Halloran, 710 A.2d 1098 (Pa. 1998), to grant a defendant's motion for entry of a judgment of non pros due to inactivity in the claim.

Here's a link to complete Tort Talk post on Judge Minora's case:  http://www.torttalk.com/2011/06/it-is-still-possible-to-have-case.html


I note that Judge Terrence R. Nealon of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas recently issued a similar Order, with an explanation of his rationale, granting a non pros judgment in a case my partner, Timothy E. Foley, and I defended entitled Calopha, Inc. d/b/a Servpro of Mountaintop v. Gerald Williams Adjustment Service, No. 2004 - CV - 1700 (Lacka. Co. April 20, 2011 Nealon, J.).

The Calopha case was commenced back in 2004 and involved a claim in which the Plaintiff was seeking payment for remediation work completed by the Plaintiff-company.  In this case there was a gap of six (6) years since the last docket activity. 

Judge Nealon likewise primarily relied upon the tripartite test enunciated in Jacobs v. Halloran case to conclude that the Defendant was entitled to a non pros judgment in light of the inactivity by the Plaintiff in the case.

Anyone desiring a copy of the decisions of Judge Nealon or Judge Minora, or the Petition and Brief for Judgment Non Pros filed by my office, may contact me at dancummins@comcast.net.


(Past successes do not guarantee that similar results will be secured in future cases.  Rather, each case must be handled on its own merits. )

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