Failed Service of Asbestos Claims Necessitates Dismissal with Prejudice

CLEVELAND - Several Ohio asbestos plaintiffs who failed to commence their actions within the required statutory period, having neglected to obtain service from a defendant within one year of filing their complaints, have no standing to argue that the lawsuits should have been dismissed without prejudice, a state appeals court has held. Anderson, et al. v. Borg-Warner Corp., et al., No. 80551 and 80926 (Ohio App. Ct., Eighth Dist.).

Instead, the Eighth Circuit Ohio Court of Appeals said in a decision March 27 that a trial court was correct to dismiss one of the two consolidated claims with prejudice, and …