MobileTech
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Alabama
I and my employer are being sued in Alabama for (a false claim of) misappropriation of trade secrets. We have responded to the complaint, produced all requested materials, and filed a counterclaim.
Six months have elapsed since we turned over the materials, and in that time the plaintiff has not even so much as requested to review the materials we provided. Our lawyer has advised us to bide our time in this situation, since the longer the period of inactivity, the plaintiff's claim that he has suffered "irreparable harm" that needs to be remedied grows correspondingly weaker. So we have not reviewed the plaintiff's responses to our production requests either, because we don't want to spark him back into action.
I am aware that a lawsuit can be dismissed for "failure to prosecute" once a sufficiently long period of inaction has transpired. Some jurisdictions, such as Florida and the Eastern District of Louisiana, specify a fixed interval of time (6 months) before such a motion can be entered. Alabama does not appear to identify a specific time interval.
My question then is how long one must one typically wait in Alabama before filing such a motion? And what might be involved in "making it stick" when the plaintiff objects to a dismissal. (This is a very simple case, with a small amount of material at issue, and so there is no plausible reason that it would take months to prepare to move on to the next phase, especially in light of the plaintiff not yet even reviewing the material we provided.)
I and my employer are being sued in Alabama for (a false claim of) misappropriation of trade secrets. We have responded to the complaint, produced all requested materials, and filed a counterclaim.
Six months have elapsed since we turned over the materials, and in that time the plaintiff has not even so much as requested to review the materials we provided. Our lawyer has advised us to bide our time in this situation, since the longer the period of inactivity, the plaintiff's claim that he has suffered "irreparable harm" that needs to be remedied grows correspondingly weaker. So we have not reviewed the plaintiff's responses to our production requests either, because we don't want to spark him back into action.
I am aware that a lawsuit can be dismissed for "failure to prosecute" once a sufficiently long period of inaction has transpired. Some jurisdictions, such as Florida and the Eastern District of Louisiana, specify a fixed interval of time (6 months) before such a motion can be entered. Alabama does not appear to identify a specific time interval.
My question then is how long one must one typically wait in Alabama before filing such a motion? And what might be involved in "making it stick" when the plaintiff objects to a dismissal. (This is a very simple case, with a small amount of material at issue, and so there is no plausible reason that it would take months to prepare to move on to the next phase, especially in light of the plaintiff not yet even reviewing the material we provided.)
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