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Willis-Fulani v. Singer6/23/1998
APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for Milwaukee County: JOHN J. DiMOTTO, Judge. Affirmed.
Kathy D. Willis-Fulani appeals pro se from a trial court order dismissing, for lack of personal jurisdiction, her personal injury complaint against James Singer and Allstate Insurance Company. Willis-Fulani claims (1) the trial court should not have dismissed the complaint because she was incarcerated at the time and the reason she did not timely serve the authenticated summons and complaint is because the clerk of courts failed to return the summons and complaint to her until the time deadlines for service had expired; (2) the trial court should have granted her request for counsel; and (3) the trial court should have heard and ruled on her motion to extend the service time deadline. Because Section 801.15, Stats., plainly states that the sixty-day service deadline in Section 801.02, Stats., cannot be extended, and because Willis-Fulani was not entitled to appointed counsel, we affirm.
I.
BACKGROUND
Willis-Fulani alleges that on April 26, 1993, she was involved in a pedestrian-automobile accident with Singer, who was insured by Allstate. She alleges that she suffered serious injury. Sometime in 1994, she was incarcerated at Taycheedah Correctional Institute. On January 8, 1996, she mailed a summons and complaint to the Milwaukee clerk of courts to commence a personal injury action against Singer and Allstate. The clerk of courts filed and authenticated these documents on January 16, 1996.
On April 5, 1996, Singer and Allstate received copies of the authenticated documents, which Willis-Fulani mailed via certified mail. Singer and Allstate filed an answer and motion to dismiss for failure to comply with proper service procedures. On April 11, 1996, Willis-Fulani filed a motion to extend the service deadline. In May 1996, Singer and Allstate were both personally served with an authenticated summons and complaint. They filed an answer with a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction based on untimely service.
The trial court heard the motion to dismiss on November 25, 1996. The motion was granted. Willis-Fulani now appeals.
II.
Discussion
A. Motion to Dismiss.
Willis-Fulani claims the trial court should not have dismissed her complaint even though she failed to comply with the sixty-day service deadline set forth in Section 801.02, Stats. She complains that she was unable to comply with the deadline because the clerk of courts did not return authenticated copies of her summons and complaint until this deadline had already expired. The trial court dismissed the complaint, reasoning that the statute does not provide for any extensions of this deadline, noting that there is no evidence in the record documenting the date on which the clerk of courts mailed Willis-Fulani the authenticated summons and complaint. We affirm the trial court's decision.
Section 801.02(1), Stats., provides:
A civil action in which a personal judgment is sought is commenced as to any defendant when a summons and a complaint naming the person as defendant are filed with the court, provided service of an authenticated copy of the summons and of the complaint is made upon the defendant under this chapter within 60 days after filing.
Willis-Fulani admits that she did not comply with this sixty-day time deadline. The summons and complaint were filed on January 16, 1996, and thus should have been served no later than March 17, 1996. She argues that because she was incarcerated, and because the clerk of courts did not return authenticated copies of the summons and co
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