Latham v. Cherry

MCCRODDEN, Judge.

The issue posed by this case is whether a voluntary dismissal without prejudice tolls the statute of limitations in a case in which the plaintiff, seeing the statute of limitations about to run, receives an order extending the time for filing a complaint but fails to serve defendant with civil summons and the order, files her complaint within the time allowed by the order, and properly serves defendant with the complaint and a “Delayed Service of Complaint.”

The facts of the case are as follows. On 1 June 1990, plaintiff applied to the Clerk of Superior Court, Pitt County, for…