Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

No you have to refile. I guess you should have spent the $175 since it's now going to cost you $355.

I agree with Mr. McCormick, assuming that the case was dismissed without prejudice. That's probably what happened, but if the case was dismissed with prejudice then you can't re-file unless you get either the trial court or the Court of Appeal to modify the dismissal order. None of those things will be worth doing if the case wasn't worth the cost of publishing the summons.

By the way, if you win the lawsuit you will probably be awarded the cost of publishing the summons. You will also probably be awarded the filing fee. But you will not be awarded two filing fees.

One more point: courts only allow service by publication as a last resort. It's not enough to say you don't have the defendant's address. You also have to show reasonably diligent efforts to find it.

I agree with Mr. Hoffman. I write separately to point out that if the court dismissed for your failure to serve during fast track guidelines, it should have only done so after imposing monetary sanctions on you first. If it dismissed because you had not served the defendant within three (3) years after filing the lawsuit, then you have serious statute of limitations problems. The prior lawsuit does not toll the statute, and the time it was pending will now count against you.