Baldwin v. The "Jennifer Martha"

This was an application to dismiss the underlying action for want of prosecution. The action involved a collision which had occurred on May 15, 1989, and the action was commenced on May 11, 1990. The Court cited the applicable test as being threefold: whether there has been inordinate delay, whether the delay is inexcusable, and whether the defendants are likely to be seriously prejudiced by the delay. The Court easily found that the first two parts of the test had been established but did not dismiss the action as there was no evidence of prejudice.