John Edwards v. Paula Renee Herman

In this personal injury action arising from an automobile-motorcycle accident, the trial court granted the plaintiff’s motion to enlarge the time allowed to obtain service of process on the defendant upon finding that the plaintiff’s failure to timely obtain service of process had been due to excusable neglect. Consequently, the trial court in the same order denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint for lack of service. Upon the defendant’s subsequent motion, the trial court granted permission for an interlocutory appeal, as did this Court. Upon review of the issues certified by the trial court, we affirm the trial court’s utilization of Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 6.02 as a method of enlarging the timeframe for issuance and service of process, pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 3, when the complaint was timely filed and when excusable neglect can be demonstrated. However, having concluded that the trial court made insufficient findings and conclusions regarding excusable neglect in this matter, we vacate the trial court’s determination on that issue and remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We also vacate the trial court’s determination that the defendant would be estopped from asserting a defense based on the statute of limitations because the parties had no express agreement waiving service of process in this matter.