Maryhew v. Yova

In Maryhew v. Yova (1984), 11 Ohio St.3d 154, 156, 11 Ohio B. 471, 464 N.E.2d 538, service was not perfected upon the defendant, there was no written waiver of service, and there was no voluntary entry of appearance on behalf of the defendant by means of an entry of the court, or a responsive pleading. The Supreme Court of Ohio had to determine whether two requests by defendant's counsel for leave to move or otherwise plead constituted a waiver of the affirmative defense of lack of personal jurisdiction over the defendant. The Supreme Court of Ohio held that such acts did not constitute a waiver of the jurisdictional defense. The court acknowledged that there "may be some indicia of legal gamesmanship on the part of the defendant and her counsel, in knowing of, but not entering an appearance in the action." Id. at 159. Nevertheless, the court held that the duty of perfecting service was upon the plaintiffs, and service had not been timely perfected. Therefore, the trial court was correct in granting a motion to dismiss based on the running of the statute of limitations.