Civil Procedure - Process - Amendment When a Partnership is Served as a Corporation

Authors

Donald W. Shaffer, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Plaintiff instituted a negligence action for personal injuries by serving a summons and complaint on one Moriarty as an officer of Moriarty Manufacturing Company, intending thereby a substituted service on this company. Plaintiff believed the named firm to be a corporation, but it was in fact a partnership of which Moriarty was a member. There was no appearance or answer. Two and one-half years after the initial service, an amended summons and complaint were served on all of the partners. In answer, defendants pleaded a two-year statute of limitations and moved for a summary judgment, which was granted. On appeal, held, affirmed. The first process was defective since it was not served on the partners individually but was directed at a nonexistent corporation. The second service could not qualify as an amendment to the first since to allow this would have the effect of bringing a new party before the court. Ausen v. Moriarty, (Wis. 1954) 67 N.W. (2d) 358.

Recommended Citation

Donald W. Shaffer, Civil Procedure - Process - Amendment When a Partnership is Served as a Corporation, 53 Mich. L. Rev. 982 (1955).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol53/iss7/6