What is the test for dismissing an action after the statutory period for service of process or commencement of trial has run?

Once the statutory period for either service of process or commencement of trial has run, the action cannot be further prosecuted and must be dismissed. ( 583.250; 583.360.) A plaintiff can escape this harsh consequence only by proving that grounds exist to toll the statutory period. (Paul v. Drost (1986) 186 Cal.App.3d 1407, 1411, 231 Cal.Rptr. 361.) Such proof is strictly limited: The requirements of both dismissal statutes "are not subject to extension, excuse, or exception except as expressly provided by statute." ( 583.250, subd. (b); 583.360, subd. (b), emphasis added.) The critical inquiry here,

Page 10