 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
MUZINGO v. VAUGHT9/24/1993
Royce and Diantha Muzingo appeal the dismissal of their lawsuit against Jeffrey Vaught as barred by the Kansas statute of limitations (K.S.A. 1992 Supp. 60-513). This case presents a choice of law question.
The Muzingos brought this action against Vaught as a result of a boating accident which occurred at the Lake of the Ozarks, Camden County, Missouri, on September 6, 1987. The Muzingos are residents of Johnson County, Kansas. Vaught is a resident of Wyandotte County, Kansas. On September 3, 1992, the Muzingos filed suit in the District Court of Wyandotte County, Kansas, for property damage and personal injury resulting from the accident. The Muzingos claimed Vaught was negligent and careless in the operation of his boat and that his negligence and carelessness caused their damages. Vaught moved to dismiss the action on the ground the Muzingos' claim was barred by the Kansas two-year statute of limitations for tort actions (60-513). The district
court concluded the Kansas statute of limitations applied to bar the action and dismissed the action as untimely filed.
The sole issue on appeal is whether Kansas' two-year statute of limitations (60-513) or Missouri's five-year statute of limitations (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120 ) applies to this action. The Muzingos contend the district court erred in applying the two-year statute of limitations.
"The general rule in respect to limitation of actions is that the law of the forum governs, and if any exceptions to this rule are to be recognized, such exceptions must be found in the law of the forum itself." Green v. Kensinger, 199 Kan. 220, 223, 429 P.2d 95 (1967). A number of states have enacted statutory exceptions to the common-law rule that the forum applies its own statute of limitations to actions before it. These statutes are commonly referred to as "borrowing statutes," which to varying degrees change the common-law rule governing choice of the applicable statute of limitation. See Leflar, American Conflicts Law § 128, p. 256 (3d ed. 1977). Borrowing statutes attempt to promote uniformity of limitation periods and to discourage forum shopping by requiring the trial court to "borrow" the statute of limitations of the jurisdiction that the legislature has determined bears the closest relationship to the action, usually the jurisdiction where the action arose. Miller v. Stauffer Chemical Co., 99 Idaho 299, Syl. 3, 581 P.2d 345 (1978). Kansas has long had a borrowing statute. Our present borrowing statute, K.S.A. 60-516, provides:
"Where the cause of action has arisen in another state or country and by the laws of the state or country where the cause of action arose an action cannot be maintained thereon by reason of lapse of time, no action can be maintained thereon in this state except in favor of one who is a resident of this state and who has held the cause of action from the time it accrued." The Muzingos interpret this statute as prohibiting the filing in Kansas of actions which are time barred in Missouri. They argue that, since the Missouri statute of limitations had not expired at the time of the filing in Kansas, their action filed in Kansas is timely. The effect of their argument as applied to the facts in the present case is to interpret 60-516 as permitting the "borrowing" of the Missouri statute of limitations to permit the filing
in Kansas of an action which would be untimely filed if the Kansas statute of limitations were applied.
At the outset, we question whether 60-516 applies to this action because, when filed, the action was not barred in Missouri. Therefore, one of the conditions precedent to the application of our borrowing statute has n
Page 1 2 3 Kansas Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|