Supreme Court of Alabama
Ex Parte Beverly Scannelly (In Re: Beverly Scannelly v. Gary Toxey).
June 30, 201174 So. 3d 432
Summary
The Court denied Scannelly's petition for mandamus and prohibition because her opponent's earlier filing, although labeled a motion to dismiss, substantively included a motion for summary judgment based on res judicata. Because that motion was filed before Scannelly's Rule 41(a)(1) notice, she lacked an unqualified right to dismiss the action unilaterally. The Court held that the substance of the filing, including an affirmative defense dependent on matters outside the complaint, controlled its procedural characterization.