County of Los Angeles v. Security Insurance

In the case at bench, we deal with an appeal by plaintiff County of Los Angeles from a dismissal pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 581a for failure to serve and return summons within three years. In a companion petition for writ of mandate filed by defendant Security Insurance Company of Hartford, we consider whether a new complaint in identical terms to that dismissed, filed after the order of dismissal, is barred by the statute of limitations. We conclude that the county failed to establish an exemption from the operation of Code of Civil Procedure section 581a and that consequently the trial court correctly granted defendant’s motion to dismiss. We conclude also that the declarations and file establish that plaintiff-county’s causes of action against defendant accrued more than four years prior to the date on which the second complaint was filed , and that consequently the trial court abused its discretion in denying defendant’s motion for summary judgment.

On November 21, 1968, plaintiff, County of Los Angeles, filed the complaint (No. 943473) which commenced the case at bench. The complaint alleges that Puente Knolls Development Company and Lee Reise…