Wade Clark Mulcahy LLP

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently issued an opinion in which the court laid out the burden that a plaintiff must satisfy when she files a writ of summons to commence a lawsuit. In<em> <a href="https://www.wcmlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Senyk-v.-Ukrainian-Catholic-Archeparchy-of-Philadelphia.pdf">Senyk v. Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia</a></em>, 2023 WL 127520 (Pa. Super. Jan. 9, 2023), the plaintiff was injured when she slipped and fell while visiting a cemetery in Philadelphia. She thereafter retained counsel and, four days before the expiration of the two-year statute of limitations, she filed a praecipe for a writ of summons to commence a lawsuit against the church organization that operates the cemetery.

The plaintiff, however, made no formal attempt to effectuate service on the defendant church organization. Instead, her counsel communicated directly with a claims specialist employed by the organization’s third-party insurance administrator both before and after the filing of the writ of summons. Importantly, in the days between the filing of the writ and the expiration of the statute of limitations, counsel for the plaintiff exchanged emails with the third-party administrator concerning the plaintiff’s accident but did not mention the filing of the writ of summons.

Approximately six months after the writ of summons was file and the statute of limitations expired, the plaintiff filed her complaint. The church organization filed preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer asserting that the plaintiff failed to comply with the rule set forth in <em>Lamp v. Heyman</em>, 366 A.2d 882 (Pa. 1976), in which the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that a writ of summons is effective to commence a lawsuit only if the plaintiff thereafter “refrains from a course of conduct which serves to stall in its tracks the legal machinery he has just set in motion.”

The Superior Court held that the plaintiff did not make a “good-faith effort to effectuate notice of commencement of the action” within the thirty-day window following the writ of summons. The key holding of the case is that generally, in Pennsylvania, communication between a plaintiff and a defendant's insurance carrier does not qualify as a good faith attempt at service under <em>Lamp</em>. In Pennsylvania, “the plaintiff is always required to undertake diligent efforts to effectuate notice under <em>Lamp</em>.” Where, as in <em>Senyk</em>, the plaintiff does not comply with their obligations to make a good-faith attempt and undertake diligent efforts, the court will grant preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer in favor of the defendant.

Thanks to Jason Laicha for his contribution to this article.  Should you have any questions, contact <a href="mcare@wcmlaw.com">Matthew Care</a>.