New Illinois Supreme Court Case about due diligence in service

As you know, once a complaint is filed, the plainiff must exercise "due diligence" and serve the defendant with the complaint within a reasonable time. A plaintiff also has an absolute right to to voluntarily dismiss a lawsuit and refile it within one year.

In Case v. Galsburg Cottage Hospital (issued on 12/13/07), the plaintiff filed a lawsuit and voluntarily dismissed it 25 days later without ever serving the defendants. Eleven months later, the plaintiff refiled the lawsuit and served the defendants 14 days later. The defendants asked the trial court to dismiss the lawsuit arguing the plaintiff failed to exercise due diligence in serving the defendants because about 12 months passed between the time the original complaint was filed and the ultimate service. The trial court agreed and dismissed the lawsuit. The Appellate Court agreed. The IIllinois Supreme Court did not.

Holding/Bottom Line: the time between voluntary dismissal and refiling cannot be considered in deciding whether the plaintiff exercised due diligence in serving the defendants.