In his recent decision in the case of
Fritzinger v. Duhart, PICS Case No. 14-1850 (C.P. Monroe Co. Nov. 6,
2014 Zulick, J.), Judge Arthur Zulick of the Monroe County Court of Common
Pleas granted a Defendant’s Preliminary Objections and dismissed the
Plaintiff’s Complaint in a personal injury action where the Plaintiff failed to
make a good faith effort to perfect service of a Writ of Summons upon a
Defendant.
 |
Judge Arthur Zulick
Monroe County |
According to a summary of the Opinion, the Plaintiff
commenced this automobile accident litigation with a Writ of Summons on
November 20, 2012.
This action was
filed within the statute of limitations.
The court noted that the docket did not reflect any attempt to serve the
Writ of Summons at that time.
The court also noted that there is no evidence of any effort
by the Plaintiff to serve the Writ upon the Defendant until after new counsel entered
an appearance 19 months later on June 6, 2014.
Relying upon the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision in the
case of
Lamp v. Heyman, the court
found that there was no indication that the Plaintiff’s first counsel acted in
attempting a good faith effort to serve the Writ.
Since the failure to serve the Writ
evidenced an intention to stall the judicial machinery as prohibited by the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court in
Lamp v.
Heyman, Judge Zulick granted the Defendant’s Preliminary Objections and
dismissed the Plaintiff’s Complaint.
Anyone desiring a copy of this Opinion may contact the
Pennsylvania Instant Case Service of the Pennsylvania Law Weekly by calling
1-800-276-7427 and providing the above-referenced PICS case number and paying a
small fee.
Source: Pennsylvania Law Weekly Digest of Recent
Opinions (November 25, 2014).
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