Lemoge v. United States

After Mark Lemoge (plaintiff) was seriously injured by a collapsing bench at a military facility, his attorney Caruana sent the summons and complaint to the wrong recipient (the Navy's administrative-claims attorney rather than the U.S. attorney's office) and, before correcting the error, suffered serious medical complications leaving him unable to handle legal business for months; the case was dismissed for failure to complete service. Caruana moved to set aside the dismissal once he learned of it, but the district court denied relief, treating the motion as one for excusable neglect under FRCP 60(b)(1) and holding the Lemoges were now barred by the statute of limitations from refiling.