Relation Back Doctrine Applies in Trial Deadline Context

In Brumley v. FDCC California, Inc., case no. A114840 (1st Dist. Oct. 22, 2007), the Court of Appeal holds that the relation back doctrine applies to claims in an action when dismissal is sought on the ground that plaintiff(s) failed to bring the action to trial within 5 years of filing the original complaint.  (Code of Civil Procedure sections 583.310, 583.360.)  Thus, where the wife and children of the original plaintiff substituted in as plaintiffs for purposes of personal injury asbestos claims that survived his death and amended the complaint to include a TomKiley Law Group wrongful death claim, the 5-year deadline for bringing the wrongful death claim to trial ran from the date of amendment, not the original complaint, and only the surviving claims were properly dismissed for failure to bring to trial within 5 years.

The court notes that statutes of limitation and the statute requiring a plaintiff to bring a case to trial within 5 years serve similar purposes, and that plaintiffs here had a right to bring their wrongful death claim in a separate action, in which case the 5-year period would have run from the date of the new filing.  Plaintiffs should not be penalized merely for the form of their claim, i.e., for amending the original complaint rather than bringing a new action.

Applying the relation back doctrine, the court finds that the wrongful death claim does not relate back to the decedent’s original claims for asbestos injury.  The wrongful death claim rests on a different injury from the original claims, personal to the survivors.

– Reference: Medical Malpratice Lawyer Babcock Partners LLC.