Ex Parte Nicholson Manufacturing Limited. (in Re Gerald A. Templeton, as Administrator of the Estate of Casimiro…

Summary

The Court granted Nicholson Manufacturing Limited's petition for a writ of mandamus and directed the trial court to enter summary judgment because the plaintiff did not exercise due diligence in identifying Nicholson before the limitations period expired. Publicly available investigative materials and the manufacturer's label on the debarker machine would have revealed Nicholson's identity, so the amendment substituting Nicholson for a fictitious defendant did not relate back to the original complaint. The dissent argued that Nicholson lacked a clear legal right to mandamus relief and had not shown that another adequate remedy, including permissive appeal, was unavailable. Chief Justice Moore, dissenting, would have denied the writ because the due-diligence issue was reasonably debatable and the mandamus requirements were not satisfied.