Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: term

I think you mean "dismiss without prejudice." It means that if the dismissing party develops new evidence, and the statute of limitation has not yet run, it can file another lawsuit. Typically that does not happen. Parties do this rather than dismiss with prejudice so that there is no prevailing party to obtain court costs and/or attorney's fees.

Re: term

The term "release without prejudice" does not appear in any California reported decision or statute, nor in the most respected practice manuals (Witkin, Rutter).

The term "release with prejudice" does show up a couple of times, and seems to have been used as an incorrect synonym for "dismiss with prejudice."

So, it probably means "dismissal with prejudice," i.e., where the matters in the case are left undecided and unadmitted, and the plaintiff reserves a right to reinstitute suit over the same issues.