LYDIA NASRALLAH AND AETNA CASUALTY & SURETY COMPANY, APPELLANTS,
v.
ISABEL SCHEUERMANN, APPELLEE; ISABEL SCHEUERMANN, APPELLANT, V. LYDIA NASRALLAH AND AETNA CASUALTY & SURETY COMPANY, APPELLEES
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The court affirmed the trial court's decision to set aside the default against Aetna Casualty & Surety Company based on excusable neglect, but reversed as to Lydia Nasrallah and remanded for her to demonstrate excusable neglect for failing to respond to the complaint.
A trial court may consider the nature of relationships between parties in prior and pending litigation when determining whether excusable neglect exists for failure to respond, and may set aside a default on that basis.
[1] In determining whether excusable neglect exists for failure to respond to a complaint, a trial court may consider the nature of the relationship between all parties in pe…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLydia Nasrallah and Aetna Casualty & Surety Company were defendants who failed to respond to Isabel Scheuermann's complaint. The trial court set aside…
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PER CURIAM.
Upon review of the record and consideration of the briefs and argument on appeal we have concluded that the appellant Isabel Scheuermann has failed to demonstrate that the trial court erred in setting aside the default entered against appellee Aetna Casualty & Surety Company. B.C. Builders Supply Co., Inc. v. Maldonado, 405 So. 2d 1345 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981). In particular we believe the trial court was entitled to consider the nature of the relationship between all of the parties in the pending and prior litigation in determining whether or not excusable neglect had been established for the appellees’ failure to respond. However, we reverse the order as to the appellee Lydia Nasrallah, and remand with directions that she be given an opportunity to amend her motion to set aside the default and to establish thereby excusable neglect for her failure to respond to Scheuermann’s complaint. We do not believe the present record is sufficient to sustain the trial court’s ruling as to Nasrallah, although we believe that under the peculiar circumstances of this case Nasrallah, the insured of the appellee Aetna, should be given an opportunity to demonstrate grounds for setting aside the default.
Accordingly, the order of the trial court is affirmed in part and reversed in part and remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith.
ANSTEAD and HURLEY, JJ., and SHA-HOOD, GEORGE, Associate Judge, concur.
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Cited By
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Zwickel v. KLC, Inc., 464 So. 2d 1280 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)…s due to confusion which reasonably exists as a result of the pendency of 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…
Authorities Cited
- B. C. Builders Supply Co., Inc. v. Maldonado, 405 So. 2d 1345 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)