A Suit Brought Again: Duplicative Suits, Withdrawal of Suit, and the Interest in Declaratory Relief

Abstract

This volume asks whether adding a new suit to the same dispute opens the way to relief or closes it. Binding pending suits, withdrawn suits, and finally determined suits under the same prohibition on re-filing causes both legitimate new claims and prohibited repetition to be overlooked at once. The path to relief opens where, in light of whether the prior suit is pending, withdrawn, or concluded by a final judgment, the subject of the later suit is not caught by the applicable restriction on re-filing, and closes where a suit is filed again while the same case is pending or where the same suit withdrawn after a final judgment on the merits is brought again. The six sections address, in turn, the pending case, the status of the withdrawn portion, withdrawal after a final judgment, prior suits in differing states, whether the need for declaratory relief remains, and the comparison of portions. The strongest counterargument is as follows. If duplication is strictly barred, errors in the design of the first suit become irreparable. The consistency of expression across multiple proceedings and strategies for terminating long-running disputes are not addressed in this volume.