JOEL WEST, APPELLANT,

v.

MICHELE POMMIER MODELS, INC., APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1996-10-30

No. 96-573

Before GERSTEN, GODERICH and GREEN, JJ.

681 So. 2d 930 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1996) Positive Treatment

Cited by 1 case

Topics

Meritorious Defense Excusable Neglect Default Judgment Abuse Of Discretion

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Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal from the denial of appellant’s motion to vacate a default and default judgment entered pursuant thereto as well as a motion for rehearing. We reverse upon our finding in the record that appellant established both excusable neglect for not timely responding to the complaint and a meritorious defense to the action. Furthermore, he responded diligently upon learning of the default and default judgment. E.g., Sanchez v. Horrell, 660 So. 2d 366, 367 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Inter-Atlantic Ins. Servs., Inc. v. Hernandez, 632 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). Given the well established preference in the law for resolving disputes on the merits, Hanft v. Church, 671 So. 2d 249, 250 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996) (citing North Shore Hosp., Inc. v. Barber, 143 So. 2d 849, 853 (Fla.1962)), we conclude that the trial court grossly abused its discretion when it declined to set aside the default and default judgment and denied the motion for rehearing.

Reversed for further proceedings.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By

Adele Thomas v. Feinberg, 745 So. 2d 500 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)

…nd his request to move the trial date under Rule 1.440 was correct. Florida has a long-standing policy in favor of trials on the merits. See North Shore Hospital, Inc. v. Barber, 143 So. 2d 849, 853 (Fla.1962); West v. Michele Pommier Models, Inc., 681 So. 2d 930, 931 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996); Hanft v. Church, 671 So. 2d 249, 250 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996); Venero v. Balbuena, 652 So. 2d 1271, 1272 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995). For that reason Tubero requires a clear showing of deliberate, intentional misconduct. Indeed, in some ca…

Authorities Cited

N. Shore Hosp., Inc. v. Barber, 143 So. 2d 849 (Fla. 1962)
Sanchez v. Horrell, 660 So. 2d 366 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)
Inter-Atlantic Ins. Servs., Inc. v. Hernandez, 632 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
Donald Hanft, M.D. & Donald Hanft, M.D., P.A. v. Suzanne Church & John Church, 671 So. 2d 249 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)

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