In London-Walker v. Walgreens Family of Cos., No. 23-CV-2868 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 4, 2023), Judge Kenney from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania considered whether timely service of a Writ of Summons on the third-party administrator representative for Defendant constituted good service to allow the suit to proceed.
On December 23, 2016, Plaintiff suffered a slip and fall accident on Defendant’s premises and sustained injuries. On December 19, 2018, Plaintiff filed a Writ of Summons in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. On January 9, 2019, Plaintiff’s counsel emailed a copy of the Writ to an adjuster at Sedgwick CMS which was a third-party administrator for Defendant Walgreens. There were no other court filings until the Court filed a Notice of Proposed Termination on March 21, 2023, because Plaintiff had taken no further action on the court docket. On May 19, 2023, Plaintiff filed a Praecipe to reissue the Writ and finally served the Writ on the Defendant on May 30, 2023. The case was removed to the Eastern District and Defendant then filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint to which Plaintiff filed no response.
The Court stated that the process of the Writ of Summons requires that service be completed within thirty days after the issuance of the Writ. If service is not completed, Plaintiff may get the Writ reissued any number of times. A reissued Writ must be served within thirty days.
The Court found that the email to the Defendant adjuster for the third-party administrator does not amount to proper service under PA law. The Court held that Plaintiff failed to demonstrate a good faith effort to give proper timely notice to the Defendant and as such, the Court dismissed the case with prejudice.
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