What does “dismissal with or without prejudice” really mean? To ordinary people, hearing anything “with prejudice” may sound vaguely bad – after all, no one likes to be called “prejudiced.” But the expression has a special legal meaning.
In plain language, a dismissal “with prejudice” means that the case’s outcome is final, and the same issues can not be brought before a court again. The dismissal is “as conclusive of the rights of the parties as if the action had been prosecuted to a final adjudication on the merits adverse to the complainant.” Parks v. State, 41 Md. App. 381, 386 (1979); this means that (as a matter of law) you can’t be sued again for the same thing. In plain language, a dismissal “without prejudice” means that the case has no effect, and the same case with the same issues can be filed again in the future. It means that the plaintiff is reserving the right to sue again.
Most people may be familiar with the term “double jeopardy,” as it has been popularized in film and television. It means the prosecution of a person twice for the same offense; however, it’s not the same as a case dismissal with or without prejudice.
So, if you are a defendant, you want a dismissal to be with prejudice because it (should) protect you from being sued again over the same thing. What’s more, if you’re a Defendant in the District Court of Maryland, you can sometimes insist on dismissal with prejudice. Once you have filed a defense (called a “Notice of Intention of Defend” or “NOID”), a plaintiff is not allowed to dismiss the case without prejudice without permission from either you or the Court. The rules say:
“a party who has filed a complaint . . . may dismiss all or part of the claim without leave of court by filing (1) a notice of dismissal any time before the adverse party file a notice of intention to defend, or if the notice of dismissal specifies that it is with prejudice, at any time before judgment, or (2) a stipulation of dismissal signed by all parties to the claim being dismissed.”
Md. Rule 3-506(a).
In other words, once you file a defense, you can force the plaintiff either to dismiss with prejudice or to go to trial.
Sometimes, it will be in your interests to agree to a without prejudice dismissal – for example, if you persuade the plaintiff to dismiss the case because of financial hardship. But in other circumstances, it may be in your interests to insist on a with prejudice dismissal – for example, if you have a good defense like identity theft or that you already paid the debt.
Whatever your situation, if you’re facing attempts to collect a debt you don’t owe, give us a call and see if we can help. As debt collection harassment attorneys, we’ve seen all kinds of bad behavior, from attempts to collect fraudulent debts to people illegally suing after a with prejudice dismissal, and we can help you.