PAUL SPEROUNES vs. ALFRED PAUL FARESE, trustee. 1, 449 Mass. 800

Summary

The district court judge refused to dismiss the case, ruling that Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 218, § 19A gave it the discretion to retain cases with amounts in controversy likely to exceed $ 25,000. The high court disagreed. As the $ 25,000 limit of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 218, § 19, was procedural, not jurisdictional, it could not be raised by a motion to dismiss under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(b) filed before the answer. However, if the defense was properly raised, the district court had to provide an opportunity for written responses from the parties, and hold a hearing if a party so requested. If satisfied that there was a reasonable likelihood the plaintiff would recover more than $ 25,000, it had to dismiss the complaint. If no objection was raised, it had the discretion sua sponte to dismiss the action or allow it to proceed. Before dismissal, however, it had to solicit written responses from the parties and, if requested to do so, hold a hearing. As defendant timely raised the ...