Ellis v. Doe, 924 N.W.2d 258 (2019)

Citation: Ellis v. Doe, 924 N.W.2d 258 (2019)
Parent Document: Ellis v. Doe, 924 N.W.2d 258 (2019)
Jurisdiction: Minnesota (state)
Effective Date: 2019-03-06
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8286581/ellis-v-doe/ ↗

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Minnesota Statutes section 645.45 (2018) provides guidance about the meaning of the word "action."3 It provides that " 'action' means any proceeding in any court of this state." Minn. Stat. § 645.45(2). Because "proceeding" is not defined in the statute, Ellis looks to the third definition of "proceeding" in Black's Law Dictionary to assert that a defense can be an action in itself.4 This assertion is unpersuasive because the first definition in Black's Law Dictionary and a comment under the definitions expressly state that a "proceeding" encompasses the entire lawsuit and is broader than any single act in a lawsuit. See Proceeding , Black's Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014) (citing Edwin E. Bryant, The Law of Pleading Under the Codes of Civil Procedure 3-4 (2d ed. 1899)) (defining "proceeding" as "[t]he regular and orderly progression of a lawsuit, including all acts and events between the time of commencement and the entry of judgment" and commenting that a proceeding "is more comprehensive than the word 'action.' "). Moreover, other dictionary definitions confirm that the broad meaning of "proceeding," and therefore the broad meaning of "action," is applicable here.5

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