Long after a personal injury suit seeking damages for a traumatic brain injury was filed against it and the statute of limitations had run, a restauranteur client of Gass Turek’s learned for the first time that it had been named as a defendant in the litigation. The restauranteur promptly called Gass Turek partner Rich Orton, seeking assistance. Rich moved to dismiss the case against the restauranteur based on improper service of process. After some limited discovery, briefing and an evidentiary hearing, the circuit court refused to dismiss the case. Rich quickly filed a petition to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. In a rare ruling for such petitions, the appellate court granted the petition and issued a full reversal with instructions to dismiss Gass Turek’s restaurateur client. The appellate court concluded that Rich’s argument was correct from the beginning – service was improper and the time to assert a claim against the restaurateur had expired. Leonzal v. RBJ Restaurant Group, LLC, No. 2021AP621. (Wis. App. Dec. 6, 2022)
