Legal Definitions - involuntary dismissal

An involuntary dismissal occurs when a court ends a lawsuit or a claim within a lawsuit without the plaintiff's agreement or consent. This typically happens because the plaintiff has failed to follow court rules, pursue their case diligently, or present sufficient legal grounds or evidence to support their claims. The court may initiate this dismissal on its own (sua sponte) or grant a request from the defendant.

Depending on the reason, an involuntary dismissal can be "with prejudice," meaning the plaintiff cannot refile the same lawsuit, or "without prejudice," allowing them to correct the issue and refile.

• Example 1: Failure to Prosecute

  Imagine a person files a lawsuit against a construction company for faulty work on their home. After filing the initial complaint, the plaintiff fails to respond to the company's requests for information, misses several court-ordered deadlines for submitting documents, and does not appear for a scheduled pre-trial conference. The court, observing the plaintiff's prolonged inaction and failure to move the case forward, might issue an involuntary dismissal.

  This dismissal is "involuntary" because the plaintiff did not choose to end the lawsuit; rather, the court ended it due to their lack of diligence in pursuing the case.

• Example 2: Failure to State a Claim

  Consider a situation where someone files a lawsuit claiming that their neighbor's new fence is "ugly" and causes them emotional distress. The neighbor's lawyer files a motion asking the court to dismiss the case, arguing that even if the fence is truly unsightly, there is no recognized legal basis or law that allows someone to sue over a neighbor's aesthetic choices in this manner. The court reviews the complaint and agrees that, even if all the plaintiff's factual allegations were true, they do not present a legally recognized claim for which the court can provide a remedy. The court then issues an involuntary dismissal.

  Here, the dismissal is involuntary because the plaintiff wanted to continue the lawsuit, but the court determined that the complaint lacked legal merit from the outset.

• Example 3: Insufficient Evidence at Trial

  During a civil trial for medical malpractice, after the injured patient (the plaintiff) has presented all their witnesses and evidence to try and prove the doctor's negligence, the doctor's attorney asks the judge to dismiss the case. The attorney argues that the plaintiff has failed to provide enough evidence to convince a reasonable jury that the doctor acted negligently or that the doctor's actions directly caused the patient's injury. If the judge agrees that the plaintiff has not met the minimum evidentiary standard required by law, the judge might issue an involuntary dismissal.

  This ends the trial and the lawsuit without the case going to the jury, and it is involuntary from the plaintiff's perspective because they wished to continue to a verdict but the court found their evidence insufficient.