DISCLAIMER: The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
142579P.pdf 08/04/2015 Mark Barner v. Thompson/Center Arms Co.
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 14-2579
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Little Rock
[PUBLISHED] [Wollman, Author, with Gruender, Circuit Judge, and Gritzner,
District Judge]
Civil case - Civil Procedure. Where plaintiff sent the complaint and
summons by certified mail to the wrong registered agent and the agent sent
a return receipt showing service has been completed, the court believes
the Arkansas Supreme Court would hold that plaintiff had completed service
on the defendant and the action had thus been commenced for purposes of
the Arkansas savings statute; since Arkansas courts would have dismissed
the case without prejudice had the case not been removed, at a minimum the
district court should have dismissed plaintiffs' claims against defendant
T/C LLC without prejudice allowing them to refile their claims against the
defendant within one year of dismissal; plaintiff properly completed
service on T/C LLC after removal and thereby complied with 28 U.S.C. Sec.
1448; additional defendant T/C Inc had merged into T/C LLC and it lacked
the legal capacity to be sued, and the district court did not err in
dismissing with prejudice the claims against it.