P&W Obtains a Dismissal in a Wrongful Death Case

Brad Purcell and Emma Nowacki obtained a dismissal in a negligence and products liability suit based on the statute of limitations.  The plaintiff filed a complaint against multiple defendants after the decedent was run over by a Jeep Grand Cherokee that suddenly reversed and ran over him after he had placed the vehicle in park. Plaintiff alleged that the transmission and/or gear shift were defective. P&W's client was a car mechanic that had replaced the transmission of the Jeep 7 years before the fatal accident.  After the plaintiff learned in discovery that the transmission had been replaced, the plaintiff brought suit against P&W's client 8 months after the statute of limitations had expired. The plaintiff maintained that the two-year statute of limitations for his suit against the mechanic related back to the timely complaint.  P&W argued that the relation-back doctrine was inapplicable because plaintiff made no “mistake,” and P&W's client had no knowledge of the lawsuit within the statute of limitations. The Cook County court agreed and dismissed the untimely complaint against P&W's client with prejudice.