There’s No Escape: The Plaintiff’s Right to Dismiss After the Submission of a Motion for Summary Judgment or a Motion to Dismiss

Authors

John P. Lenich, University of Nebraska College of LawFollow

Date of this Version

4-9-2009

Document Type

Article

Citation

Nebraska Law Bulletin (April 9, 2009)

Comments

Copyright 2009, the author

Abstract

The plaintiff’s right to dismiss is an escape hatch that the plaintiff can use when “unforeseen contingencies, accidental omissions, a mistake in procedure or other circumstances unconnected with the merits” undermine the plaintiff’s ability to litigate its case. But that hatch should be closed while the court is considering a potentially dispositive motion that targets the merits of the case. A lawsuit is not a trial run. Once the lawsuit has been submitted for decision on the merits, the court should be allowed to make a decision.