What Is a Motion to Dismiss?

Since graduating from Albany Law School in 2008, Sarah Baia has demonstrated her aptitude in the field of workers’ compensation and provides representation to employers facing such claims in her work as a staff attorney at The Hartford. Sarah Baia works closely with insurers and the company’s claims partners to help them create defenses. The motion to dismiss is one of the most common defenses used in workers’ compensation claims, so here is a brief explanation of what it entails.

At its core, a motion to dismiss is an appeal to the court to throw out a case and is often used in place of filing an answer in response to a complaint. The motion is generally taken as a denial of the complaint, even though none is specifically given.

They are most commonly used to confront procedural issues related to the complaint filing. Commonly, this includes whether the complaint has been filed in the correct location, if it has been served in the proper manner, and whether the court itself holds any jurisdiction over the case.

The motion will usually be denied if it requires additional evidence to that which has already been presented in the case. Furthermore, the courts require the motion to confront issues that can be argued by both plaintiff and defendant. If the motion is denied, both parties will usually be asked to conduct a period of discovery, after which the issues covered in the motion to dismiss can be revisited in a motion for summary judgment.

Should the motion be granted, the plaintiff may still refile the complaint with adjustments made to cater to the issues covered in the motion for dismissal.

The Story of Pirates of the Chemotherapy

 


Sarah Baia began her career as a law clerk at the Albany County Office of the District Attorney, a role she held while studying for her JD at Albany Law School between 2005 and 2008, and has since become a staff attorney at The Hartford in Albany, New York. Sarah Baia also has an interest in community theater and starred in the play Pirates of the Chemotherapy when it was performed at the Carousel Ballrooms in 2012.

Written by Paul Schutte, the play was created in an effort to raise money for the Norma J. Vinger Center for Breast Care, which offers screening and breast cancer diagnostic testing with the aim of promoting awareness of the condition and ensuring patients have access to information and medical treatment.

The play follows the story of a young mother who has just discovered she has breast cancer, following her as she begins to attend group therapy and forms bonds with five other patients. Offering a comedic slant on a tragic story, Pirates of the Chemotherapy demonstrated the strength of everyday people when taking on the tragedies of life and showed that you can laugh, even when times are their toughest.