Higgins v. Superior Court

Francisca Cabandong filed the underlying action in 2012 and served Shawn Higgins with a summons and third amended complaint in August 2016. In this writ proceeding, Higgins challenged the trial court's denial of his motion to dismiss Cabandong's lawsuit on the basis that Cabandong failed to serve Higgins with the summons and complaint within three years of the commencement of the action, as required by the mandatory provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 583.210(a). In denying Higgins's motion, the court ruled that the three-year period had not expired, since the action had been stayed from March 13, 2014, when codefendant Ronald Powell filed bankruptcy, until July 29, 2016, when the bankruptcy court granted Cabandong's motion to lift the automatic stay that became effective upon the filing of Powell's bankruptcy. The Court of Appeal determined that as a matter of law, the automatic stay that applied to claims against debtor Powell did not apply to Cabandong's claims against nondebtor Higgins. Accordingly, the trial court erred in ruling that Powell's bankruptcy stay affected Cabandong's obligation or ability to serve Higgins in this action. Because Cabandong served Higgins more than three years after commencement of this action, section 583.250 required that Cabandong's underlying lawsuit against Higgins be dismissed. View "Higgins v. Superior Court" on Justia Law