DISMISSAL OF PREMISES LIABILITY CASE

On November 20, 2025, Atlanta Partners Carrie Christie and Courtney Norton and Atlanta Associate Tereza Kucerova obtained dismissal of a premises liability case in the State Court of Sumter County, Georgia. At issue in the motion to dismiss was the five-day safe harbor provision in Georgia’s service of process statute, O.C.G.A. § 9-11-4 (c). Where service upon a defendant occurs after the expiration of the statute of limitations, as it did in this case, the relation back of the service to the date of filing is dependent upon the diligence exercised by the plaintiff in perfecting service. Ms. Christie and her team successfully showed that thirteen weeks of inaction by the plaintiff’s attorney, between the date he discovered he could not obtain service upon the defendant and the date he moved for substituted service, did not rise to the level of diligence set forth under Georgia law.