Dirks v. Jimenez

Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that she had been injured when she was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Defendant that left the road and rolled several times. Plaintiff served Defendant under Wyoming’s nonresident motorist statute by serving the Secretary of State and sending a copy by certified mail to Defendant at a Rock Springs, Wyoming address. However, Plaintiff had obtained a more current address in discovery in a prior proceeding. The district court quashed the attempted service and dismissed the case as untimely, concluding that Plaintiff failed to demonstrate due diligence in locating Defendant. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Plaintiff failed to exercise due diligence when she mailed notice of service to an address which she knew or and therefore, the attempted notice of the suit to Defendant did not satisfy the requirements of Wyoming’s nonresident motorist statute; and (2) service on Defendant’s former attorney did not satisfy the statute’s requirements. View "Dirks v. Jimenez" on Justia Law