Ex Parte J.e. Estes Wood Company, Inc., and A.a. Nettles, Sr. Properties, Ltd. (in Re Shawnee Terminal Railroad V…

Summary

The court held that the abatement statute applies when a plaintiff files substantially identical actions in federal and state court, including while an appeal from dismissal of the federal action remains pending. Because the statute requires dismissal of the later-filed state action, a stay cannot substitute for dismissal, and the court issued a writ directing the trial court to dismiss without prejudice. Justice Lyons, concurring specially, objected to the court's sua sponte overruling of prior precedent and would have treated that precedent as already implicitly displaced by later authority.