Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Plaintiff's counsel should be able to figure this one out.

Plaintiff's counsel should know that only the LLC that has the right to the cause(s) of action in the complaint can prosecute the action, and finding an active LLC with a slightly different name is utterly and completely irrelevant. If plaintiff's counsel actually thinks that has any relevance, he or she should notify their malpractice carrier. If the LLC was cancelled, something had to happen to its assets. The right to prosecute a civil lawsuit as plaintiff is an asset. Plaintiff's counsel needs to figure out who the assets of the LLC were turned over to when it was dissolved and the Certificate of Cancellation filed, and then substitute whomever now owns the right to the suit in the place of the LLC. If plaintiff's counsel doesn't know how to do that, he or she should again notify his or her malpractice carrier and plaintiff should find a new lawyer.

Mr. McCormick is probably right, but not necessarily. If the lawyer merely used the wrong name for his client -- in other words, if the second company is the successor to the first one, and if that company has consistently been litigating the case as if it had been filed under the correct name (including properly answering discovery that was directed to the plaintiff), then the court can correct the error and let the case proceed.