How has the statute of limitations been interpreted in the context of Defendant's request for an extension of time to plead?

In sum, defendant's maneuver in getting additional time to plead resulted in plaintiff's failure to serve summons within the period required by section 581a. ¹⁷ By requesting that extension, defendant led plaintiff to believe that further service of process on efendant would be duplicatory and redundant. ¹⁸ In Carruth v. Fritch (1950) 36 Cal.2d 426, 433, 224 P.2d 702, 706, which concerned the statute of limitations, we [5 Cal.3d 442] stated that 'One cannot justly or equitably lull his adversary into a false sense of security, and thereby cause his adversary to subject his claim to the bar of the statute of limitations, and then be permitted to plead the very delay caused by his course of conduct as a defense to the action when brought.' Defendant's conduct

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