McCreesh v. City of Philadelphia

OPINION

Justice BAER.

We granted review in this case to clarify what constitutes a good faith effort by a plaintiff to effectuate notice to a defendant of the commencement of an action. In the seminal case of Lamp v. Heyman, 469 Pa. 465, 366 A.2d 882 (1976), this Court sought to end abuses of process by plaintiffs who tolled the statute of limitations by filing a writ of summons, had the writ repeatedly reissued, and deliberately failed to notify the defendant of the pending litigation. This process, while technically compliant with the Rules of Civil Procedure, nonetheless defeated the purpose…