VA Second LP. Missouri Cases

Angela Brown sued VAALP for negligence after slipping on ice at an apartment complex. After her initial suit was dismissed without prejudice, Brown refiled and later sought to add VA Second LP as a defendant, believing it was the property owner, and subsequently dismissed VAALP. The trial court dismissed the claim against VA Second LP as time-barred, finding that the relation-back doctrine under Rule 55.33(c) did not apply. The appellate court affirmed, holding that adding a new defendant, even with a subsequent voluntary dismissal of an original defendant, does not constitute a substitution of parties for the purpose of the relation-back doctrine.