Dismissed Case Without Prejudice

[Nasheayahu]

Jurisdiction

New Mexico

The judge dismissed my case without prejudice:

"Dismissed Without Prejudice" - What does it mean?

Involuntary Dismissal

An involuntary dismissal is the legal term for when the trial court judge dismisses the case without being asked to do so by the prosecutor or plaintiff. Involuntary dismissals can be done without prejudice, allowing the prosecutor or plaintiff to refile the case.

This was a Status Hearing, plus one of the parties wanted to discuss dismissing the case with prejudice but the judge dismissed it due to legal errors in the complaint, because I did not send the other party involved a summons.

Question: how would this dismiss a case when it's ongoing, still in discovery and when I still was able to send the summons to the other party, do they all have to be sent at the same time?

prejudice :

prejudice

On the other hand, if the court dismisses a case without prejudice, then it means that any future plaintiffs may refile the same or similar claim because the courts do not bar such subsequent claims.



Fixing the "errors" will be easy and I will refile the case, but I have a question:

• Do I have to refile the case under the same complaint title, because I want if to be more specific, this one was too general,
• In this refiling, am I able to add additional relevant evidence and behavior of recently occurred events the defendant, and
• Instead of refiling at the district court, can I file at the state's federal court?

 

[zddoodah]

Do I have to refile the case under the same complaint title, because I want if to be more specific, this one was too general

If the case has been dismissed, then you'd file an entirely new lawsuit, which will be assigned a new case number.

In this refiling, am I able to add additional relevant evidence and behavior of recently occurred events the defendant

I don't know what you mean by "add additional relevant evidence." You didn't say what court your case is in (state or federal court - I'm assuming not small claims court), but you file a lawsuit by filing a document called a complaint. The complaint makes allegations. You may attach exhibits to a complaint, but you don't otherwise submit evidence. You didn't explain why your case was dismissed, but one would assume you will change the allegations in your complaint to address the reason(s) why the case was dismissed.

Instead of refiling at the district court, can I file at the state's federal court?

Do you mean state district court? You can file in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. However, since we know nothing about your case, we have no way of knowing if it would be appropriate for you to do so. Does your case arise under federal law? If not, are there any defendants who are citizens of the same state as you, and does the amount in controversy exceed $75,000?

Question: how would this dismiss a case when it's ongoing, still in discovery and when I still was able to send the summons to the other party, do they all have to be sent at the same time?

Huh?

 

[adjusterjack]

You need to study the NM Rules of Civil Procedure before you move forward with the lawsuit.

New Mexico Court Rules | New Mexico Rules of Civil Procedure for the District Courts | Casetext

Browse New Mexico Court Rules | New Mexico Rules of Civil Procedure for the District Courts for free on Casetext

casetext.com

Otherwise you are likely to make more mistakes that will get you dismissed again.

 

[Tax Counsel]

Does your case arise under federal law? If not, are there any defendants who are NOT citizens of the same state as you, and does the amount in controversy exceed $75,000?

I added the key word not to that, which you inadervently left out.

 

[Tax Counsel]

• Do I have to refile the case under the same complaint title, because I want if to be more specific, this one was too general,
• In this refiling, am I able to add additional relevant evidence and behavior of recently occurred events the defendant, and
• Instead of refiling at the district court, can I file at the state's federal court?

When a case is dismissed, it's over and if you want to make another go at it, you file a new complaint, this time with the summons included and ensuring that it is properly serve. Because the complaint in the new case has no connection to the one in the old case you may write the complaint differently than you did the first time, and it's a good idea to leave out anything not relevant to the case, and put in everything that is relevant, even if you didn't include it in the dismissed complaint.

You may file your complaint if federal court only if, as zzddooah pointed out, (1) at least one issue in the case involves a matter of federal law or (2) at least one defendant in the case is a citizen of a different state than you and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. Note that the current fee for filing a civil lawsuit in federal district court is $405; typically state court filing fees are much lower. Also litigation in federal court tends to be more complex, and the judges more strict on following the rules, than in many state courts, particularly if you are eligible for state small claims court or other state court that uses streamlined rules. Unless there is a distinct advantage to you filing in federal court over state court you are very likely much better off just staying in state court.

 

[zddoodah]

I added the key word not to that, which you inadervently left out.

I did not inadvertently leave that word out. "[A]re there any defendants who are citizens of the same state as you?" If the answer is yes, then there is no federal jurisdiction. If the answer is no (and if the amount in controversy exceeds $75k), then federal jurisdiction exists. Asking the question in the negative gets you to the same place but switches the "yes" and "no."