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plaintiffdefendantjurisdictionattorneytrialaffidavitmotionplaintiff's attorney

plaintiffdefendantjurisdictionattorneyappealtrialwillplaintiff's attorney

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Dennis v. Jones, 240 Va. 12, 393 S.E.2d 390

Facts

The case arose from a motor vehicle collision on January 16, 1986, between Ellen Dennis and Terry Jones. Jones filed a damage suit against Dennis in September 1987, claiming $50,000 for personal injuries. The plaintiff's attorney served process on the DMV, claiming Dennis was a nonresident, despite evidence showing she had been a resident of Virginia. The trial court entered a default judgment against Dennis after she failed to respond, leading to her motion to set aside the judgment, which was denied.

The facts are undisputed. The sequence of events is important. When the January 1986 accident occurred, police were not called to the scene, and no police report was filed with the DMV.

Issue

Whether the trial court erred in refusing to set aside the default judgment on the grounds that personal jurisdiction over the defendant was not properly obtained.

The dispositive question on appeal is whether the judgment was void for failure to obtain personal jurisdiction over defendant, a resident of the Commonwealth.

Rule

Personal jurisdiction over a defendant cannot be established through substituted service on a statutory agent unless the plaintiff has made diligent efforts to ascertain the defendant's location and the defendant is indeed a nonresident.

According to Code § 8.01–308, the operation of a motor vehicle in the Commonwealth by a 'nonresident,' including those defined in Code § 8.01–307(2), is deemed equivalent to an appointment by the nonresident of the Commissioner of the DMV to be the statutory agent of such nonresident for the purpose of service of process in any action against the nonresident growing out of any accident involving the operation by the nonresident of a motor vehicle in the Commonwealth.

Analysis

The court found that the plaintiff did not exercise due diligence in attempting to locate the defendant before serving process through the DMV. The affidavit used to justify the service was based on false representations regarding the defendant's residency status and failed to meet the statutory requirements for service. As a result, the court concluded that the default judgment was void due to lack of personal jurisdiction.

Consequently, the attempt to serve defendant through the DMV was ineffective, and personal jurisdiction was not obtained over her.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court reversed the trial court's order refusing to set aside the default judgment, annulled the judgment, and dismissed the action with prejudice.

Hence, the trial court's order refusing to set the default judgment aside will be reversed, the default judgment will be reversed and annulled, and the action will be dismissed with prejudice.

Who won?

Ellen Dennis prevailed in the case because the court found that the default judgment against her was void due to lack of personal jurisdiction.

The court ruled plaintiff's attorney had used diligence to determine defendant's location before requesting service through the DMV.

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