Obtained Dismissal for Manufacturer Based on Complex Civil Procedure Posture
Represented a Maryland machinery manufacturer following a catastrophic injury in New Jersey. Plaintiff first filed in New Jersey state court, and the case was removed to federal court. While a motion to dismiss based on New Jersey’s two year statute of limitations was pending in the New Jersey Federal District Court, plaintiff filed an identical case in Maryland, within Maryland’s three-year period of limitations.
After obtaining a dismissal order in the New Jersey case, we obtained dismissal of the Maryland case on the basis that it was precluded under principles of res judicata. The Maryland court agreed that an order from the federal court sitting in diversity had the same impact as if a New Jersey state court had issued it, and, under New Jersey law, a dismissal for limitations was a final judgment on the merits, and therefore the Maryland case could not proceed.
