Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia
A lawsuit against me was recently dismissed without prejudice. I understand that the plaintiff is allowed six months in which to re-file the case.
What is the difference, practically speaking, between re-filing the dismissed case within six months and filing a new case on the same cause of action after six months? In this matter, the statute of limitations has run only two of its five years. In general, in a situation like this, would a plaintiff be allowed to re-bring this action anytime up to the end of the statute of limitations period or the end of the six-month window, whichever occurs later?
(If a case is dismissed without prejudice, can the six-month re-filing window potentially extend the statute of limitations period?)
Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
In the situation described in which the plaintiff apparently non-suited
the initial case filing, as a practical matter, there should be no difference in terms of what the law requires between the two options referenced since the
statute of limitations is supposedly five years.
However, where the statute of limitations is only two years or even less such as
in defamation cases, the right of the plaintiff to refile within six months of the date of the nonsuit can be critical in preserving a valid statute of limitations for the matter, depending upon how much time has already elapsed in the case.
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