Light Blogging

Ya think? I've been in Missouri on a tortuously drawn-out mediation, and I've got to hit the road back today after putting out a half-dozen fires that arose in my absence. If you want the latest law, however, the Iowa Supreme Court has its new opinions up. There's a premises liability case discussing whether a dentist has the duty to inspect his chairs for potential problems (he had a duty to use reasonable care to discover the condition of the chair, but in this case there was no evidence he could have discovered the particular defect that caused the harm), and a venue fight that starts out like this: "Iowa City must be a special place. The plaintiffs in this personal-injury action filed suit in Johnson County, notwithstanding the fact that it hardly had any connection to the case." Yep, it's a special place, alright. Finally, there's a case on proper service of a defendant in a personal injury action. After getting five extensions of the 90-days deadline to serve the defendant, the plaintiff finally got the attorney for the defendant's estate to accept service the day before the last deadline. Unfortunately, the estate's attorney wasn't technically appointed yet, nor had the estate technically opened. In holding that service was improper and the case was dismissed, the Court noted that the plaintiff had five extensions of time, made only half-hearted attempts to serve, and on the last go-around waited until the day before the last deadline had run out. However, it's a dismissal without prejudice, so the plaintiff can refile and start the whole thing over again.