Court Holds Failure to Serve Once-Dismissed Complaint Within One Year Results in Dismissal With Prejudice

The Supreme Court of Ohio ruled today that when a plaintiff in a civil suit has previously dismissed its complaint against a defendant voluntarily and then refiled it, and the plaintiff subsequently files an instruction directing the clerk of courts to serve the refiled complaint on the defendant more than one year after the date of refiling, the instruction by operation of law is a second “notice dismissal” that results in dismissal of the plaintiff’s claims with prejudice.