The Five-Year Rule Is Still Here.

Plaintiff filed a complaint on November 13, 2006. During the following years, there were various events. At one point, the trial court stayed the action while the parties engaged in mediation. One of the plaintiffs passed away. One of the defendants was in bankruptcy for many months. The complaint was amended five times. In May 2012, some of the defendants moved to dismiss the action under Code of Civil Procedure section 583.360, known as “the five-year rule.” The trial court dismissed the action. A divided appellate court affirmed the dismissal with regard to all of the defendants named in the original complaint, but reversed with regard to a defendant, Doe 31. The majority explained: “While the original complaint included fictitiously named defendants as Does 1-30, Does 31-50 were not included until the Fourth Amended Complaint, which was filed on January 2006.” The dissenting justice stated: “In my view, the trial court abused its discretion in that the twists and turns of this case made appellant’s ability to bring the case to trial within five years of filing the complaint ‘impossible, impracticable, or futile.’”  (Gaines v. Fidelity National Title Insurance Company (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 8; December 12, 2013) 222 Cal.App.4th 25.