F. Todd Weston and Gaby Reeves Secure Win for National Service Company Client on Motion to Dismiss in Etowah County, Alabama
During the virtual hearing on Monday, October 19, 2020, after his review of the Motion filed on behalf of Christian & Small’s client, the Etowah County judge urged Plaintiff counsel to concede his position, as the judge expressed his intention to grant Todd and Gaby’s motion and dismiss their client with prejudice.
Early in the summer, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint in a 2018 lawsuit, naming Christian & Small’s client for the first time, concerning a 2016 personal injury incident. The amended pleading was filed shortly after the hearing on a prior defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. Right after the Amended Complaint was filed, the prior defendant was granted summary judgment.
In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff relied on a “fictitious defendant” position in order to avoid the applicable two-year statute of limitations that had already run on Christian & Small’s client. However, a thorough review of the prior pleadings and record revealed a one-page letter, written a few months after the incident in 2016, addressed to Plaintiff’s counsel, and attached as an exhibit to an earlier, non-substantive pleading, which clearly and unequivocally identified Christian & Small’s client as a potential defendant.
Todd and Gaby argued in their Motion, and in oral arguments during the hearing, that the 2016 letter triggered the two-year statute of limitations, which expired twenty months prior to Plaintiff filing the Amended Complaint against their client. The Etowah Country judge agreed, and now Christian & Small’s client is dismissed with prejudice.
About Christian & Small
Christian & Small LLP represents a diverse clientele throughout Alabama, the Southeast, and the nation with clients ranging from individuals and closely-held businesses to Fortune 500 corporations. By matching highly experienced lawyers with specific client needs, Christian & Small develops innovative, effective, and efficient solutions for clients. With offices in Birmingham, metro-Jackson, Mississippi, and the Alabama Gulf Coast, Christian & Small focuses on the areas of litigation and business, is a member of the International Society of Primerus Law Firms, and is the only Alabama-based member firm in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. Our corporate social responsibility program is focused on education, and diversity is one of Christian & Small’s core values.
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