John Doe Corporation v. Kennerly, Montgomery & Finley, P.C.
AdministrativeLaw DueProcess Jurisdiction
Whether a state trial court can summarily dismiss a plaintiff's complaint without providing notice to the plaintiff when the court has counsel's contact information
The state trial court summarily dismissed petitioner’s complaint under a “COVID-19 plan” without even attempting to provide any notice to petitioner before the dismissal was effected (despite having petitioner’s counsel’s contact information a t that time); as a result, no meaningful opportunity to be heard was ever provided to petitioner before the dismissal was effected. The Court of Appeals of Tennessee upheld the dismissal, and the Supreme Court of Tennessee declined discretionary review of this case. Consequently, the question presented is: Whether, in holding that a state trial court can summarily dismiss a plaintiff’s complaint without attempting to provide notice to the plaintiff befor e the dismissal was effected when the trial court had the plaintiff’s counsel’s contact information, the deci sion of the Court of Appeals of Tennessee in this case is i n conflict with relevant decisions of this Court as t o this important federal question concerning due process o f law, and whether that decision has the potential to immediately and adversely affect millions of statecourt civil cases if not corrected by this Court.