Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

record of case filed/dismissed

if a case is filed and summons served to defendant;but the case is dismissed by the plantiff before going to court; is there a public record of a case ever being filed


Asked on 4/09/02, 3:26 am

5 Answers from Attorneys

Ken Koury Kenneth P. Koury, Esq.

Re: record of case filed/dismissed

yes, you can view and copy the file from the court clerk

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Answered on 4/09/02, 3:39 am
Robert Mccoy Law Office Of Robert McCoy

Re: record of case filed/dismissed

Well, there will be a case file on it, but I doubt that is your concern. I am guessing your concern is whether the filing will show up on a credit report. The answer is that it may. There is a recent United States Supreme Court case on this issue. The court held a filing may show up on a credit report even if the case is later dismissed. So long as what is reported is true, it is protected by the Freedom of Speech clause of the United States Constitution. Unless you are dealing with the Unlawful Detainer Registry, most of the time I can get the report removed by the person who made it.

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Answered on 4/10/02, 4:50 pm
Robert Miller Robert L. Miller & Associates, A Law Corporation

Re: record of case filed/dismissed

When a case is filed, there is a record of it being filed. If it is later dismissed, it still shows the filing, but there is a note under it indicating that it was dismissed.

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Answered on 4/09/02, 2:53 pm
Larry Rothman Larry Rothman & Associates

Re: record of case filed/dismissed

Once a case is filed, its case and number is permanent.

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Answered on 4/09/02, 6:12 pm
Robert Beauchamp The Beauchamp Firm

Re: record of case filed/dismissed

Depends on the County. In Orange County, for example, if a case is filed but never pursued and is dimissed, there will always be a docket but the contents of the file are destroyed after a relatively short time.

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Answered on 4/09/02, 8:18 pm


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