Dipoma v. McPhie

Summary

The Utah Supreme Court reviews whether payment of a filing fee is a jurisdictional prerequisite to commencing a civil action under Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 3. The court holds that filing fees are not jurisdictional, but concludes that the plaintiff unreasonably delayed paying the fee after notice that her original check had been dishonored. The court therefore affirms dismissal of the complaint, while also noting that service was untimely under Rule 4.

Holdings

1. Payment of the required filing fee is not a jurisdictional prerequisite to commencing an action under Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 3; an action is commenced when the complaint is filed with the court clerk.
2. Although payment of the filing fee is not jurisdictional to commencement, a litigant must pay the required fee within a reasonable time after notice that the original payment failed, and Dipoma's five-month delay was unreasonable as a matter of law under the circumstances.
3. An appellate court may affirm a judgment on any legal ground apparent from the record, even if the ground differs from the trial court's stated basis and was not raised or considered below, when the ground has been briefed and argued on appeal.
4. Because the action commenced when the complaint was filed, the 120-day service period began on that date; service approximately 275 days later violated Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 4 and independently subjected the complaint to dismissal without prejudice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether payment of the required filing fee is a jurisdictional prerequisite to commencing a civil action under Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 3.
2. Whether Dipoma's failure to pay the filing fee within five months after notice that her original check had been dishonored was unreasonable as a matter of law and supported dismissal.
3. Whether the appellate court could affirm dismissal on the alternative ground that the filing fee was not paid within a reasonable time, despite that ground not having been raised before the trial court.
4. Whether Dipoma's complaint was independently subject to dismissal for failure to serve the summons and complaint within 120 days under Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 4.

Disposition

other