Legal Question in Civil Litigation in North Carolina

If a lawsuit has been "ruled upon" why would it be withdrawn? What do you mean by "ruled upon?" Was it dismissed? Why would you bring an action in another county?

If the action was brought in the wrong county (say the defendant lived in county A and the lawsuit was filed where the plaintiff lived in county B) then you don't need to have the action dismissed and you can request a transfer. If you got a ruling dismissing the case, was any dismissal with or without prejudice? If without prejudice, then the action can be re-filed provided that the statute of limitations has not expired. If it was with prejudice, then you would need to appeal the dismissal or seek reconsideration of the court's ruling if you have new evidence or believe the court erred. Otherwise, if the suit is dismissed with prejudice and you do not appeal and you try to re-file in another county, then the defendant is going to seek dismissal based on res judicata/collateral estoppel. These are legal principles which preclude re-litigation of a claim that has already been heard and decided once.

If there has been no ruling on the suit dismissing the case, you can voluntarily dismiss it.

However, if you are asking these questions, it means that you probably do not have your own lawyer. While most people can handle small claims (you can only sue where the defendant resides), you need an attorney for district or superior court to avoid these kinds of situations. If you have an attorney, the you need to direct your questions to your attorney. Its not fair to either your attorney or the attorneys here to have us second guess your attorney when they have all the facts and we don't.