Short answer. A second voluntary dismissal of the same claim can bar you from filing it a third time. If you already dismissed an action based on the same claim once in a competent court, a second notice of dismissal operates as an adjudication on the merits — meaning the claim is treated as finally decided against you.
What the law says
a notice operates as an adjudication upon the merits when filed by a plaintiff who has once dismissed in a competent court an action based on or including the same claim
Rule 16, Section 1 — Dismissal upon notice by plaintiff. Read the full provision →
The general rule: dismissal by notice is without prejudice
A plaintiff may dismiss a complaint simply by filing a notice of dismissal, as long as it is done before the defendant files an answer or a motion for summary judgment. Ordinarily this kind of dismissal is without prejudice — nothing stops the plaintiff from filing the same claim again later, whether because more evidence is needed, the wrong defendant was named, or any other reason.
The exception: a second dismissal is different
That protection runs out the second time. If the plaintiff has already dismissed, in a competent court, an action based on or including the same claim, filing a second notice of dismissal for that same claim is treated as an adjudication upon the merits — the legal equivalent of losing the case after a full trial, even though no trial happened. This is often called the two-dismissal rule, and its purpose is to stop a plaintiff from filing and withdrawing the same claim indefinitely.
What "the same claim" means
The rule looks at whether the second case is based on or includes the same claim as the one dismissed before — not simply whether it involves the same parties or the same general dispute. Two lawsuits arising from the same underlying set of facts and asserting the same cause of action are what the rule targets; a genuinely different claim, even between the same parties, does not automatically trigger it.
Why this matters before you file again
Because the consequence is severe — the claim becomes barred, not merely delayed — anyone who has already withdrawn a case once should think carefully before doing the same with a refiled version of it. The safer course, where the underlying facts still support the claim, is to let the case proceed rather than dismiss and refile a second time on the same cause of action.
The rule applies to a voluntary notice, not every dismissal
This particular bar attaches specifically to a notice of dismissal filed by the plaintiff before the defendant has answered — the mechanism the plaintiff controls directly, without needing the court's leave. A case that ends a different way, such as dismissal on the defendant's motion or dismissal by court order for a reason unrelated to the plaintiff's own choice, is not automatically what this particular two-dismissal consequence is measuring, though other dismissal rules may still apply to those situations.