AMERICAN AGRONOMICS CORPORATION, A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
EDWARD OTTO VARNER, APPELLEE
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American Agronomics Corporation appeals a default judgment entered against it after the corporation failed to respond to a summons and complaint. The court reversed, holding that the failure to deliver the summons to company counsel constituted excusable neglect warranting relief from the default so the case could proceed on its merits.
The court reversed and held that the lower court abused its discretion in failing to set aside the default judgment. The failure of the director to deliver the summons and complaint to counsel constitutes excusable neglect warranting relief from the default, as justice is better served by resolution on the merits rather than by default.
[1] A party's failure to appear at trial due to a misunderstanding of the trial date, without any further effort to ascertain the correct date, does not constitute excusable…
[2] A judgment may not be set aside for a party guilty of gross negligence.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Florida courts freely grant relief from defaults so that the matters may be tried on the merits.”
Establishes the strong policy in favor of vacating defaults to allow resolution on the merits rather than by default.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellee served John Davis, a director of appellant corporation who was not involved in day-to-day operations. Davis mistakenly believed the summons a…
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RYDER, Judge.
American Agronomics Corporation appeals an order denying its motion to set aside a default judgment entered against the corporation. We reverse.
The facts reveal that appellee, for reasons not relevant to this decision, was unable to perfect service of process upon preferred officers of appellant, a Florida corporation. Appellee successfully served John Davis, a director of the corporation, who was, however, not involved in the day-to-day operations of appellant. Mr. Davis mistakenly believed the summons and complaint were duplicates of papers already served eight times on the corporation in two lawsuits unrelated to the instant case. Mr. Davis informed attorneys handling the unrelated suits that he had been served with additional copies, and they instructed him to disregard the summons and complaint. Consequently, no answer was filed by appellant in the instant case, and appellee proceeded to obtain a default judgment against appellant.
Upon learning of the default judgment, appellant promptly moved to have it set aside, but the lower court denied the motion and this appeal followed.
Florida courts freely grant relief from defaults so that the matters may be tried on the merits. North Shore Hospital, Inc. v. Barber, 143 So. 2d 849 (Fla.1962). In setting aside a default, courts afford greater leniency in cases not decided on the merits, and Florida courts have held that a greater showing may be required to reverse an order granting a motion to vacate than that required to reverse a denial of such a motion. Garcia Insurance Agency, Inc. v. Diaz, 351 So. 2d 1137 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977).
Under the circumstances of this case, we believe the lower court abused its discretion in failing to set aside the default judgment. Failure of Mr. Davis to deliver the summons and complaint to counsel constitutes excusable neglect and warrants setting aside the default judgment. See Ellis v. Ellis, 404 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). Justice will be served better by a resolution of this controversy on the merits rather than by default.
We find it unnecessary to discuss the other arguments raised by appellant.
REVERSED with directions to set aside the default entered herein and for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
OTT, A. C. J., and SCHOONOVER, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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R.H. v. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs., 860 So. 2d 986 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)…Woodward, 602 So. 2d 547, 549 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992) (holding that motion for relief from judgment should be granted where failure to attend hearing was result of mistake and not because of a “wilful and flagrant act.”); Am. Agronomics Corp. v. Varner, 413 So. 2d 484, 485 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982) (holding that trial court abused discretion in failing to set aside default judgment where corporate director was served with summons and complaint, but failed to deliver them to counsel because he was under mistaken belief t…
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Zwickel v. KLC, Inc., 464 So. 2d 1280 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)…two or more eases involving the same or related parties or subject matters. See State Bank of Eau Gallie v. Raymond, 103 Fla. 649, 138 So. 40 (1931); Nasrallah v. Scheuermann, 424 So. 2d 974 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); American Agronomics Corp. v. Varner, 413 So. 2d 484 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982); Cunningham v. White, 390 So. 2d 467 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). In the present case, the affidavit established Zwickel’s at [*1281] torney’s confusion over the two companion cases. On the record before us, we find the attorney’s confusio…
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Rhines v. Rhines, 483 So. 2d 4 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)…t service of process upon him. In the case at hand the husband failed to respond to the last service of process upon him. In contrast to the situations in Fratus v. Fratus, 467 So. 2d 484 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985), and American Agronomics Corp. v. Varner, 413 So. 2d 484 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982), cited in the dissenting opinion in this case, as well as in contrast to the facts of Savela v. Fisher, 464 So. 2d 240 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), the husband’s default was not attributable in any way to the actions or nonactions of an at…1 / 2
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- N. Shore Hosp., Inc. v. Barber, 143 So. 2d 849 (Fla. 1962)
- Garcia Ins. Agency, Inc. v. Diaz, 351 So. 2d 1137 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977)
- McKinley Peeples v. State, 404 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)