But, despite this frequent view that lawsuits can easily be dismissed, the reality in America is that everyone enjoys the fundamental right to be heard and have their day in court.
That means that almost anyone is able to file a lawsuit for whatever reason, hail a party into court, and the judge may dispose of the lawsuit based only on a narrow set of justifications. Contested factual issues must be decided at trial by a jury unless a jury trial is validly waived by the parties. It's crucial to remember that the job of a jury is to determine the facts of the case. It is the sole province of the judge to determine the law that applies. There are procedural options that allow a judge to dismiss a particular matter without the need to go all the way to trial.
This article will focus on three of the most frequently used forms of involuntary early case dismissal: the plaintiff's "failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted," "judgment on the pleadings," and "summary judgment.
In other words, there must be some legally recognized claim for relief, for example, trespass or negligence, upon which the plaintiff intends to proceed. Motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim arise early in the case and test the sufficiency of the complaint the document filed by the plaintiff containing the statement of the case.
In other words, when a defendant moves to have a judge dismiss a lawsuit for failure to state a claim, with very limited exceptions, the only information that the judge may review is the complaint itself, not any outside evidence, testimony, or other items.
However, the standard test for the sufficiency of the complaint is fairly liberal. The judge is required to assume that all of the allegations of facts in the complaint are true and may only dismiss the complaint if the allegations do not, on their face, support a claim for relief, or if the allegations reveal some fatal flaw in the claim asserted. At this early stage of the litigation, these are the only reasons for which the judge may dismiss the case.
A notice of dismissal preserves the right of the plaintiff to commence a lawsuit at a later date. While not commonly employed, such a notice is useful when exigent circumstances—such as the sudden unavailability of witnesses—warrant the termination of the action.
The clerk of the court in which the lawsuit was commenced must receive a copy of the notice of dismissal served upon the defendant to adjust the record of the action accordingly. Stipulation Once a defendant has served an answer to the plaintiff's complaint, the plaintiff may obtain a dismissal without prejudice by entering a formal agreement, a stipulation, with the defendant. The parties agree to the terms of the dismissal, which must be filed with the court clerk and put into effect by the action of the clerk.
A dismissal agreement is a court order that enforces the stipulation of the parties. A dismissal by stipulation is a dismissal without prejudice unless the parties otherwise agree and record their agreement in the text of the stipulation.
Court Order A plaintiff may make a motion to dismiss his or her action without prejudice if the plaintiff cannot serve a notice of dismissal or obtain a stipulation. A dismissal will not be granted to a plaintiff, however, if it would prejudice the rights of any other individual who has a legal interest in the subject matter of a lawsuit.
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